LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

Class 

Part  II 
THE  NEW  TESTAMENT   STORY 


THE 


NEW   TESTAMENT   STORY 


asetolD  for  goimg  people 


BY 

W.    F.    ADENEY,   M.A. 

w 

NEW  COLLEGE,  LONDON 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAPS 


Neto  fgorfc 
THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 

1906 

All  rights  reserved 


£sr 


GENERAL 


Copyright,  1898, 
By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Narfoooto  $resg 

J.  S.  dishing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood  Mass.  U.S.A.    ' 


fubttafiai  by  James  Ciarhe£C° 


Stanford  a  GcotiEstob. 


203 


The  Boyhood  of  Jesus 


chapter  I 

HOME  LIFE  AT   NAZARETH 

High  up  among  the  wild  hills  of  the  country  that 
was  once  called  Galilee  is  a  little  town,  built  in  a  sort 
of  cup  or  basin  that  seems  to  be  scooped  out  of  the  face 
of  the  cliff.  If  you  look-at  it  across  the  great  green 
plain  below,  when  the  sun  is  shining  at  noon  on  its 
white  houses,  this  little  town  seems  like  a  patch  of 
snow  left  unmelted  on  the  dull  brown  hills.  If  you 
climb  the  steep,  winding  path  among  the  rocks  —  a 
very  tiring  scramble  for  a  hot  day  —  you  will  see 
that  the  houses  are  planted  on  any  level  bit  of 
ground  that  can  be  found,  so  that  when  you  go  out 
of  one  house  you  almost  step  on  the  roof  of  another. 
There  are  no  regular  streets  —  only  narrow  lanes, 
and  in  some  places  flights  of  stone  steps  leading  from 
house  to  house.  This  is  Nazareth.  At  the  time  of 
Jesus  it  was  a  larger  and  more  important  place  than 
it  is  to-day. 

Many  hundreds  of  years  ago  there  lived  at  Naza- 
reth a  kind,  quiet  man  named  Joseph,  and  Mary  his 

205 


206  THE   BOYHOOD   OF   JESUS 

good  and  gentle  wife.  They  were  poor,  and  they 
had  to  work  hard  for  their  living.  Joseph  was  a 
carpenter ;  and  while  he  was  in  his  workshop,  Mary 
would  have  to  busy  herself  about  the  house,  keeping 
the  place  clean  and  tidy,  sewing  and  mending  clothes, 
baking  bread.  She  would  not  have  much  cooking 
to  do :  they  would  live  very  simply,  for  the  most 
part  on  such  food  as  bread  and  figs,  dates  and  honey 
and  curdled  milk  and,  perhaps,  a  little  fish  when  the 
hawkers  brought  it  through  the  town,  and,  as  a 
treat,  some  meat  on  feast  days.  Every  morning  and 
again  every  evening,  Mary  would  go  down  to  the 
well,  a  spring  breaking  out  of  the  rock.  She  would 
carry  her  pitcher  on  her  head.  At  the  well  she 
would  meet  other  women  of  the  town  who  were  too 
poor  to  keep  servants,  going  to  and  fro  with  their 
pitchers  of  water.  On  washing  days,  she  would 
carry  her  linen  to  the  stream  running  out  from  the 
well,  and  rinse  it  in  the  sparkling  water  that  splashed 
among  the  stones. 

There  were  several  boys  and  girls  in  the  carpen- 
ter's cottage.  Jesus  was  the  eldest.  He  was  Mary's 
firstborn.  We  know  that  He  was  also  the  Son  of 
God.  But,  when  he  came  into  the  world  as  a  little 
baby,  He  must  have  looked  like  any  other  little  baby. 
His  mother  had  to  feed  Him  and  care  for  Him.  If 
she  had  not  done  so,  He  would  have  died.  But  in 
time  He  grew  tall  and  strong,  as  boys  will  grow. 
His  mind,  too,  grew  wiser,  and  He  came  to  know 
more  and  more  as  He  grew  older.     Every  year  He 


Woman  t ahkyinu  Child  on  Shouldkb 
207 


HOME   LIFE  AT  NAZARETH  209 

lived  the  neighbours  learnt  to  love  Him  more  kindly, 
and  every  year  He  lived  God  smiled  on  Him  more 
brightly,  so  that  His  heart  was  full  of  joy,  and  His 
life  was  full  of  sweetness. 

You  may  be  sure  that  when  He  was  quite  a  little 
boy  He  could  climb  the  rocks  round  His  home ;  for 
He  was  always  strong  and  active  and  healthy,  and 
He  loved  the  mountain  heights.  Then,  as  He  wan- 
dered over  the  countryside,  many  a  lovely  sight 
would  fill  His  soul  with. wonder  and  with  praise  to 
His  Father  in  heaven,  wHb  had  made  all  things  so 
beautiful.  In  spring  hosts  of  flowers  came  up  after 
the  rain  —  the  brightest  o£  them,  the  blood-red  anem- 
ones, scattered  over  the  hills  like  spots  of  flame. 
Perhaps  green  and  gold  lizards  —  of  which  there  are 
many  —  would  dart  out  from  under  the  rocks,  or 
peep  at  Him  with  their  bead-like  eyes.  In  ten 
minutes  He  could  reach  the  hill-top.  There  He 
would  have  a  grand  view  of  snow  mountains,  and 
the  blue  sea  with  the  ships  at  anchor  in  the  bay,  and 
miles  of  hill  and  dale  between.  Crowning  a  hill 
quite  near  He  would  see  a  fortress,  with  its  stern, 
frowning  walls. 

A  high  road  from  the  port  to  the  far-off  city  of 
Damascus  passed  through  Nazareth,  and  the  boy 
Jesus  would  often  see  troops  of  merchants  with 
their  wares  on  camels'  backs ;  some  of  them  would 
open  their  bales  in  the  market-place,  and  offer  their 
goods  for  sale. 

We  are  not   told  how  Jesus  was  taught,  but  no 


210  THE  BOYHOOD   OF   JESUS 

doubt  it  was  with  Him  as  with  other  cottage  lads. 
If  so,  when  He  was  very  young  He  would  learn  to 
read  and  write  from  lessons  given  Him  by  His 
parents  at  home.  His  lesson  book  would  be  the 
Old  Testament,  which  was  the  Jews'  Bible.  When 
He  was  about  five  years  old,  as  we  may  suppose, 
He  was  sent  to  school  at  the  synagogue ;  that  is  the 
Jewish  place  of  worship,  like  our  church  or  chapel. 
This  place  was  used  for  services  on  Saturday  (the 
Sabbath  of  the  Jews),  and  for  week-day  services  on 
Monday  and  Wednesday.  At  other  times  it  was 
used  for  meetings,  and  for  school-teaching.  The 
school-teaching  was  very  simple.  Jesus  never  went 
to  college,  as  Paul  did.  His  best  lessons  He  got 
from  the  Bible,  from  God's  book  of  nature  in  the 
lovely  scenes  round  His  home,  and  from  the  Spirit 
of  God  in  His  own  heart. 

When  He  was  old  enough,  Jesus  went  to  work 
in  the  carpenter's  shop,  and  thus  He  became  Him- 
self a  carpenter.  For  fifteen  years  or  more  He 
worked  with  hammer  and  saw  and  plane.  An  old 
writer,  who  lived  in  the  next  century,  says  He  used 
to  make  ploughs  and  yokes.  Depend  upon  it,  He 
made  them  well  —  His  ploughs,  smooth  and  true,  so 
that  the  ploughmen  would  have  no  excuse  to  turn 
back  grumbling  and  complaining ;  and  His  yokes 
easy,  so  as  not  to  gall  the  shoulders  of  the  poor 
patient  oxen.  In  this  way  He  lived  till  He  was 
thirty  years  old.  To  His  neighbours  He  seemed 
to  be  an  ordinary  working-man.     And  yet,  though 


HOME  LIFE  AT  NAZARETH  211 

He  was  doing  nothing  wonderful,  there  was  this 
great  difference  between  Him  and  everybody  else 
in  Nazareth.  There  was  no  evil  in  Him  ;  He  never 
did  an  ill  deed;  He  never  spoke  a  bad  word.  If 
you  could  have  seen  the  secret  thoughts  of  His 
heart,  you  would  have  found  them  as  pure  as  a 
garden  of  white  lilies. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  STORY  OF   GABRIEL 

When  a  man  becomes  great  and  famous,  people 
like  to  find  out  all  they  can  about  his  early  days. 
So  it  was  with  Jesus.  He  only  got  known  beyond 
the  little  group  of  His  friends  at  Nazareth  when 
He  came  out  in  public,  and  then  He  was  about 
thirty  years  old.  The  earliest  account  of  Jesus 
we  have  is  in  St.  Mark's  Gospel,  and  that  begins 
at  this  part  of  His  life.  But  afterwards  the  Chris- 
tians began  to  inquire  about  His  early  days.  Per- 
haps Mary  herself  then  told  the  wonders  she  had 
long  kept  secret  in  her  heart.  The  story  of  Gabriel 
is  one  of  these  wonders.  It  begins  in  the  old  days 
before  Mary  was  married,  when  she  was  a  girl  at 
home  ;  and  it  tells  first  of  another  mother  and  another 
child.     This  is  the  story. 

In  the  south  country,  far  away  from  Nazareth, 
there  was  living  an  old  priest  named  Zacharias. 
He  had  a  wife  named  Elisabeth,  who  was  Mary's 
cousin.  They  were  good  people  ;  but  they  felt  sad 
because  they  had  no  child.  It  happened  one  day, 
when  Zacharias  was  taking  his  turn  at  the  temple 
in  Jerusalem,  burning  sweet  spices  that  filled  the 
air  with  scent,  that  he  saw  an  angel  standing  by 
the  side  of  the  rising  smoke.     The  sight  frightened 

212 


THE   STORY   OF   GABRIEL  218 

him  very  much.  But  the  angel  said,  "  Do  not  be 
afraid,  Zacharias  ;  because  your  prayer  is  heard,  and 
your  wife  Elisabeth  shall  have  a  son,  and  you  shall 
call  his  name  John"  (that  means  "the  Favour  of 
God").  The  angel  then  went  on  to  say  how  the 
child  was  to  be  brought  up.  For  one  thing,  he 
was  to  have  no  wine  to  drink.  God  had  a  great 
work  for  him  to  do ;  it  was  to  prepare  the  people 
for  Christ. 

This  was  all  too  wonderful  for  Zacharias  to 
believe. 

But  the  angel  said,  "I  am  Gabriel,  that  stand  in 
the  presence  of  God ;  and  I  am  sent  to  speak  to 
you,  to  bring  you  this  good  news." 

When  the  old  priest  went  out  of  the  temple  he 
was  dumb,  and  all  people  wondered  what  had 
happened. 

Some  months  later,  but  still  before  Mary  had 
left  her  home  to  go  and  live  with  Joseph,  the  angel 
Gabriel  came  to  her  in  Nazareth,  and  said,  "  Hail ! 
you  are  highly  favoured;  the  Lord  is  with  you." 
Mary  was  frightened,  and  puzzled  to  think  what 
this  could  mean.  Then  the  angel  said,  "  Do  not  be 
afraid,  Mary,  for  God  is  pleased  with  you,"  and  he 
went  on  to  tell  her  that  she  should  have  a  son. 

"  You  must  call  His  name  Jesus  "  —  which  means 
"  Saviour  "  —  said  the  angel.  "  He  shall  be  great, 
and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the  Most  High ;  and 
He  shall  reign  over  the  house  of  Jacob  for  ever, 
and  of  His  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end." 


214  THE   BOYHOOD   OF   JESUS 

Then  the  angel  told  her  about  Elisabeth.  So 
Mary  set  out  to  pay  her  cousin  a  visit.  When 
they  met  and  talked  together  about  these  angel 
visits,  they  were  both  so  full  of  joy  that  they  burst 
out  singing  to  the  praise  of  God. 

Now  the  angel's  words  came  true.  First  a  baby 
was  born  in  the  house  of  the  old  priest.  When 
they  were  going  to  give  him  a  name,  the  friends 
said  he  must  be  named  Zacharias  after  his  father. 
But  his  mother  said,  "No  ;  he  shall  be  called  John." 
Then  they  made  signs  to  his  father  to  find  out  what 
he  wanted  the  child  to  be  called.  The  priest  wrote 
down,  "  His  name  is  John "  ;  and  everybody  won- 
dered. The  next  moment  Zacharias,  who  had  not 
spoken  a  word  since  he  had  seen  the  angel  standing 
by  the  smoking  altar,  opened  his  mouth  and  began 
to  praise  God. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  SHEPHERDS  OF  BETHLEHEM 

The  country  in  which  Jesus  lived  was  part  of  the 
great  Roman  Empire.  At  the  time  of  the  birth  of 
Jesus  the  head  of  the  empire  was  Augustus.  He 
was  the  first  of  the  emperors,  and  he  ruled  very  well. 
From  time  to  time  he  used  to  give  orders  for  his 
people  to  be  counted.  We  should  call  this  counting 
a  "census";  but  then  it  was  called  an  "  enrolment," 
because  the  names  of  the  families  were  set  down  in 
lists  or  rolls. 

The  story  of  the  shepherds  of  Bethlehem  tells  us 
that,  for  the  sake  of  one  of  these  enrolments,  Joseph 
and  Mary  had  to  travel  right  away  from  Nazareth  in 
the  north,  through  Jerusalem  to  the  little  town  of 
Bethlehem  on  the  other  side,  a  journey  of  several 
days;  because  the  families  of  both  of  them  belonged 
to  that  city.  The  Romans  did  not  care  where  the 
families  came  from.  But  the  Jews  were  very  partic- 
ular about  this  matter;  and  the  census  was  to  be 
taken  in  a  Jewish  way. 

When  they  reached  Bethlehem  they  first  went  to 
the  inn.  This  would  not  have  been  at  all  like  one 
of  our  comfortable  modern  inns,  where  travellers 
can  get  both  lodging  and  food.  The  inn  at  an 
Eastern  town  is  only  a  sort  of  shelter.     There  is  a 

215 


216  THE  BOYHOOD   OF   JESUS 

yard  in  the  middle,  where  merchants  stack  their 
goods,  and  where  people  cook  their  food.  All  round 
are  bare  rooms  where  the  travellers  stay.  They 
have  to  bring  their  own  food.  When  Joseph  and 
Mary  came  to  Bethlehem  they  found  that  all  these 
rooms  had  been  taken  by  other  people.  So  they 
went  to  the  stable  where  the  oxen  and  asses  were 
put  up.  It  would  be  quieter  than  the  noisy  yard  of 
the  inn.  Here  Jesus  was  born.  His  mother  laid 
Him  in  a  manger,  a  place  made  for  the  cattle  to  feed 
out  of.     This  was  His  cradle. 

It  is  said  that  people  kept  the  sheep  for  the  sacri- 
fices of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  in  the  fields  near 
Bethlehem,  and  that  there  shepherds  had  to  watch 
the  flocks  all  the  year  round;  so  that  this  night 
when  Jesus  was  born  there  would  be  shepherds  out 
near  Bethlehem,  even  if  it  was  winter  time,  though 
at  other  places  the  sheep  would  be  shut  up  in  their 
folds.  We  can  fancy  we  see  these  shepherds,  each 
sitting  on  a  rock,  his  head  wrapped  in  a  sort  of 
mantle,  a  sheepskin  on  his  back,  a  fire  of  brushwood 
blazing  in  the  midst  to  keep  off  wild  beasts.  This 
is  the  country  where  David  killed  the  lion  and  the 
bear  in  the  olden  times;  in  the  days  of  Jesus  there 
were  wolves  prowling  about  over  the  wild  hills 
round  Bethlehem,  always  ready  to  pounce  on  the 
sheep  at  night. 

As  the  shepherds  watched  their  flocks,  guarding 
them  through  the  long,  quiet  hours  of  that  night 
in  which  Jesus  was  born,  they  had  a  great  fright. 


THE   SHE1  HERDS   OF   BETHLEHEM  217 

An  angel  stood  by  them,  and  a  great  light  shone 
round  about  them. 

The  angel  said  to  them,  "  Do  not  be  afraid ;  for 
see,  I  bring  you  news,  news  full  of  great  delight. 
To-day,  in  the  city  of  David,  a  Saviour  is  born  for 
you  —  Christ  the  Lord." 

Then  the  angel  went  on  to  tell  the  shepherds  how 
they  were  to  find  the  Saviour.  They  were  to  look 
for  a  baby  wrapped  up  and  lying  in  a  manger. 

Suddenly  the  angel  was  joined  by  a  great  host 

of  his  companions.      They  were  singing,  and  this 

was  their  song: 

"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest  places, 
And  on  earth  peace  among  men  in  whom  He  is  well  pleased." 

When  the  angels  were  gone  away,  and  all  was 
still  again,  and  the  shepherds  only  saw  the  quiet 
stars  overhead  shining  down  on  them  from  God's 
heaven,  they  said  to  one  another,  "  Let  us  go  now 
to  Bethlehem,  and  see  this  thing  that  has  happened, 
which  the  Lord  has  made  known  to  us." 

They  started  out  in  haste,  for  they  were  very 
eager  to  find  the  Saviour,  whom  they  had  been 
taught  to  expect  God  would  send  them  about  this 
time.  They  came  to  the  inn  stable,  and  there  they 
saw  the  babe  in  the  manger  as  the  angel  had  said. 
Then  they  told  of  what  they  had  seen  and  heard 
in  the  fields,  and  the  people  of  Bethlehem  were 
astonished;  but  Mary  kept  all  these  things  in  her 
mind,  pondering  them ;  and  the  shepherds  went 
back  full  of  gladness,  praising  God. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  TWO   DOVES 

It  was  a  law  among  the  Jews  that  when  a  child 
was  born  the  mother  should  make  a  sacrifice  to  God. 
If  she  could  afford  it,  she  was  to  offer  a  lamb ;  but 
if  she  was  too  poor  for  that,  she  might  bring  two 
doves.  Mary  brought  the  gift  of  a  poor  woman; 
she  came  up  to  the  temple  with  two  doves.  It  was 
also  the  law  that  some  money  should  be  paid  at  the 
temple  when  a  first  boy-child  was  born,  as  a  sign 
that  he  belonged  to  God.  Mary  brought  this 
money,  together  with  the  doves. 

Now,  in  the  temple  were  some  old  people  who 
spent  all  their  time  there,  giving  themselves  up  to 
the  praise  and  worship  of  God.  It  had  been  re- 
vealed to  one  of  them,  named  Simeon  —  a  good  old 
man,  whose  heart  was  full  of  the  Spirit  of  God  — 
that  he  should  not  die  till  he  had  seen  the  Lord's 
Christ.  When  the  child  Jesus  was  brought  into 
the  temple  by  His  parents,  Simeon  took  Him  in 
his  arms,  saying, 

"  Now  lettest  Thou  Thy  servant  depart,  O  Lorgl, 
According  to  Thy  word,  in  peace ; 
For  mine  eyes  have  seen  Thy  salvation." 

.  He  was  ready  to  die  now  that  he  had  seen  Jesus, 
the  promised  Christ  of  God. 

218       * 


THE  TWO  DOVES  219 

While  Joseph  and  Mary  were  wondering  at  this. 
Simeon  blessed  them  ;  but  he  also  warned  Mary  that 
trouble  would  come  to  her  when  many  people  turned 
against  her  Son.  It  would  be  like  a  sword  piercing 
her  soul. 

Another  of'' these  old  people  in  the  temple  was  a 
prophetess  named  Anna.  She  had  been  married  for 
seven  years  when  her  husband  died ;  and  after  that 
she  had  lived  as  a  widow  for  as  many  as  eighty-four 
years,  so  she  must  have  been  a  yevy  old  woman 
indeed.  She  was  accustomed  to  live  in  the  temple, 
worshipping  God  with  prayers  and  fastings  night 
and  day. 

Anna,  the  old  prophetess,  came  up  just  when 
Simeon  was  holding  the  child  in  his  arms,  and 
she,  too,  gave  thanks  to  God.  Then  she  went  to 
other  people,  who,  as  she  knew,  were  waiting  and 
watching  for  the  coming  of  the  deliverance  of  God, 
and  told  them  of  the  child  she  had  seen  in  the 
temple. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE   MAGI 

From  very  ancient  times  there  had  been  living 
in  the  East,  especially  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Babylon  and  Persia,  men  who  studied  the  stars, 
and  so  laid  the  foundations  of  the  science  of  astron- 
omy. But  they  had  mixed  this  true  knowledge 
with  strange  fancies  about  the  influence  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  on  the  lives  of  men  and  women. 
In  this  way  came  astrology  as  one  of  the  magic 
arts.  It  was  held  that  the  position  of  the  stars 
at  the  birth  of  a  child  determined  what  his  fortune 
was  to  be.  The  learned  men  of  Persia  who  studied 
such  subjects  were  called  "  Magi."  In  the  more 
ancient  times  these  Magi  were  honoured  as  forming 
a  peculiar  order  almost  like  the  priests  among  the 
Jews.  But  by  the  time  of  Christ  this  was  no  longer 
the  case.  Still  there  were  men  who  gathered  up  the 
wisdom  of  their  fathers,  and  who  also  watched  the 
heavens  for  themselves. 

The  story  of  the  Magi  tells  how  some  of  these 
people  came  from  far  to  see  the  infant  Jesus.  It 
has  been  imagined  that  there  were  three  of  them, 
that  their  home  was  Arabia,  that  they  were  kings. 
They  have  even  been  named  and  described  as  Mel- 
chior,  an  old  man  with  long  white  hair  and  a  sweep- 

220 


THE  MAGI  221 

ing  beard ;  Caspar,  a  beardless  youth  with  a  ruddy 
face ;  and  Balthasar,  with  the  black  skin  of  an 
African.  All  this  is  imaginary.  The  story  as  we 
have  it  in  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  Matthew, 
the  only  place  where  it  is  found  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, simply  tells  how  some  Magi,  we  do  not 
know  how  many,  came  from  "  the  East,"  we  do  not 
know  exactly  where. 

These  men  had  heard  that  a  great  king  of  the 
Jews  was  to  appear  about  this  time.  A  Latin 
writer  tells  us  that  there  was  spread  all  through 
the  East  an  expectation  that  some  great  one  would 
arise.  When  they  saw  a  star,  which  they  took  to 
be  a  sign  of  the  birth  of  the  king,  the  Magi  fol- 
lowed the  direction  of  this  star  till  they  came  to 
Jerusalem.  There  they  sought  out  Herod,  the 
reigning  king,  and  asked  him  where  they  were 
to  find  the  child  who  was  born  to  be  king  of  the 
Jews.  Herod  turned  for  advice  to  the  learned 
Jews  about  him,  and  these  men  found  an  old  proph- 
ecy, from  which  they  learnt  that  the  Christ  was  to 
be  born  in  Bethlehem. 

So  the  Magi  set  out  for  Bethlehem,  and,  as  they 
went  on  their  wa}',  they  were  delighted  to  see 
their  star  again,  and  they  followed  it  till  it  stood 
over  the  house  where  the  young  child  was.  When 
they  had  found  the  child,  they  gave  Him  presents 
of  gold  and  precious  spices. 

Herod  was  a  cruel  tyrant.  He  had  a  rival  of 
his   beheaded,   and  two   young   men   of   whom   he 


222  THE  BOYHOOD   OF  JESUS 

was  jealous  strangled;  he  had  his  brother-in-law 
drowned  in  a  bath  at  Jericho,  and  even  one  of 
his  wives  killed.  The  older  he  lived  the  more 
gloomy  and  suspicious,  the  more  cruel  and  terrible 
he  became.  Now  he  had  asked  the  Magi  to  come 
and  tell  him  where  they  found  the  young  child, 
that  he  might  go  and  offer  Him  homage.  But 
since  they  were  warned  in  a  dream  to  do  no  such 
thing,  they  went  home  quietly  without  returning 
to  the  king. 

This  greatly  enraged  Herod,  and  he  ordered  all 
the  baby  boys  under  two  years  old  in  and  about 
Bethlehem  to  be  killed.  Joseph  was  warned  of 
the  danger  in  a  dream,  and  he  fled  with  the  young 
child  and  His  mother  into  Egypt,  where  they  stayed 
till  Herod  was  dead,  when  they  would  have  gone 
back  to  Bethlehem ;  but  on  hearing  that  Herod's 
son,  who  took  after  his  father,  was  now  ruling, 
they  went  to  Nazareth. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  BOY  IN   THE  TEMPLE 

Every  year  Jesus'  parents  used  to  go  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  a  great  feast  of  the  Jews  called  "  The 
Passover."  When  Jesus  was  twelve  years  old  they 
took  Him  with  them  for  the  first  time.  They  trav- 
elled with  their  friends  in  a  great  company.  In 
this  way  the  members  of  a  family  might  very  easily 
get  separated  from  one  another. 

When  it  was  time  to  start  back  on  the  journey 
to  Nazareth,  the  boy  Jesus  was  missing.  But  as 
His  parents  thought  He  was  somewhere  in  the 
crowd,  they  set  out  without  Him. 

So  they  travelled  for  the  first  day's  journey ; 
and  at  night  they  looked  for  Him  among  their 
friends  and  relations,  quite  expecting  to  see  Him. 
He  was  not  there.  Naturally  they  were  alarmed, 
and  they  turned  back  to  Jerusalem  to  look  for 
Him. 

This  took  another  day,  and  then  they  had  a 
weary  search  through  the  narrow  streets  and 
crowded  bazaars  of  the  great  city.  In  all  that 
moving  sea  of  strange  faces  they  looked  in  vain  for 
the  one  face  they  hungered  after.  And  so  again  a 
day  passed.  This  was  the  third  day  since  His 
parents  had  last  seen  Jesus.     How  tired  and  dis- 

223 


224  THE  BOYHOOD   OF   JESUS 

tressed  they  must  have  ^been!  No  doubt  they 
blamed  themselves  now  for  having  started  without 
their  child. 

At  length  they  went  into  the  temple.  Now  it 
was  the  custom  for  learned  Jews,  called  Rabbis, 
to  teach  their  pupils  in  the  courts  and  porticos 
round  about  the  temple.  Sometimes  they  had  open 
classes,  which  anybody  might  attend  without  be- 
coming a  regular  pupil.  The  Rabbi  would  sit  on 
a  carpet  spread  on  the  ground,  cross-legged,  as 
perhaps  you  have  seen  a  tailor  sit  at  his  work,  and 
his  scholars  would  sit  on  the  same  carpet  in  a  circle 
about  him.  The  Rabbis  would  put  questions  to 
their  classes,  and  they  liked  their  scholars  to  put 
questions  to  them. 

To  their  astonishment  Joseph  and  Mary  found 
their  lost  child  in  one  of  these  classes  of  the  rabbis 
at  the  temple.  Never  was  there  so  eager  a  scholar. 
Everybody,  teacher  and  taught,  was  astonished  at 
Him  —  He  put  such  searching  questions ;  He  gave 
such  startling  answers! 

But  His  mother  was  vexed  at  what  she  saw ; 
partly,  perhaps,  because  He  seemed  so  happy  in 
the  busy  studies  of  the  class,  while  she  and  Joseph 
were  hot  and  tired  and  flustered  from  their  vain 
hunt  up  and  down  the  streets. 

So  she  cried,  "Child,  why  have  you  treated  us 
in  this  way?  See,  your  father  and  I  have  b  en 
looking  for  you  with  sorrowing  hearts." 

But  Jesus  answered,  "How  is  it  that  you  were 


THE   BOY   IN   THE  TEMPLE  225 

seeking  for  Me  ?  Didn't  you  know  that  I  must  be 
in  my  Father's  house?" 

This,  then,  was  the  explanation.  Jesus  had  not 
been  thoughtless  or  unkind.  He  had  taken  it  for 
granted  that  His  parents  would  have  guessed 
where  He  was.  What  was  more  natural  to  Jesus, 
who  always  lived  in  the  joy  of  His  Father's 
presence,  than  that  He  should  be  in  His  Father's 
house?  But  even  Mary  did  not  really  understand 
her  wonderful  Son. 

Still,  though  He  was  the  Son  of  God,  and 
though  His  Father's  house  was  His  true  home, 
Jesus  went  quietly  back  to  Nazareth  with  His 
earthly  parents,  and  lived  in  obedience  to  them. 


II 

Jesus  the  Prophet 
chapter  I 

THE   BAPTISM 

When  John,  the  son  of  Zacharias  the  priest 
and  Elisabeth  his  wife,  grew  up  to  be  a  man, 
he  took  to  strange  ways  of  living.  He  went  away 
into  the  wild  country,  among  the  rocks  and  the 
caves  where  bears  and  jackals  had  their  dens. 
He  did  not  dress  like  other  Jews,  in  a  long  white 
tunic  and  rich-coloured  cloak.  He  wore  a  very 
rough  mantle  woven  from  camel's  hair,  like  a  piece 
of  sackcloth,  the  sort  of  stuff  the  Arabs  use  for 
covering  their  tents.  And  for  food  he  just  had 
whatever  he  could  find  in  the  wild  country  —  honey 
from  the  bees  that  built  their  combs  in  cracks  of 
the  rocks  or  hollow  trees,  and  even  insects  — 
locusts,  like  our  grasshoppers. 

People  used  to  go  out  from  all  parts  to  see  this 
strange  man.  Then  he  would  preach  to  them, 
and  what  he  said  was  very  startling.  He  told  them 
that  the  Kingdom  of  God,  which  some  of  them  had 
heard   of,  and   some   of  them   had   read   about,  as 


THE    KAPTISM 


227 


coming  in  the  wonderful  future,  was  close  at  hand. 
And  he  said  Someone  was  eoming  after  him,  so 
great  a  person  that  John  was  not  worthy  to  un- 
buckle His  sandal.  Then  he  went  on  to  say  that 
they  must  be  prepared  for  all  this  by  leaving 
their  bad  ways  and  turning  their  minds  to 
better   things.      He   would   get  very   fierce   in   his 


Arab  Sandals 


preaching,  calling  his  hearers  "an  offspring  of 
vipers."  He  said  that  the  axe  was  already  lying 
at  the  root  of  the  tree,  and  that  every  tree  that  was 
not  bringing  forth  good  fruit  would  be  cut  down 
and  thrown  into  the  fire. 

This  very  much  frightened  the  people.     So  they 
cried  out,  "  What  must  we  do  ?  " 


228  JESUS   THE  PROPHET 

John  answered,  "  He  that  has  two  coats,  let  him 
give  to  him  that  has  none  ;  and  he  that  has  food,  let 
him  also  share  it." 

Taxgatherers,  who  used  to  be  hard  on  the  people, 
cheating  and  robbing  them,  came,  asking,  "  Master, 
what  shall  we  do  ?  " 

John  answered,  "Don't  force  people  to  pay  more 
than  is  due  from  them." 

Soldiers  came,  saying,  "  And  we,  what  must  we  do  ?  " 

"  Do  not  be  rough  and  violent,"  said  John ;  "  do 
not  accuse  people  falsely ;  be  content  with  your 
wages." 

John  took  those  people  who  wished  to  be  pre- 
pared for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  down 
to  the  River  Jordan,  and  there  he  baptized  them,  as 
a  sign  that  they  wished  their  sins  to  be  washed  away. 
To  baptize  means  to  wash  in  a  religious  service  and 
as  a  sign.  Because  John  did  this  he  was  called 
"The  Baptist,"  that  is,  "The  Washer." 

Among  the  many  people  who  came  to  John  to  be 
baptized  by  him  was  Jesus.  Now,  John  did  not  know 
that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of 
the  world,  the  very  Person  whose  coming  he  had 
preached  about.  But  he  knew  something  of  Him. 
We  read  in  the  stories  of  their  childhood  how  they 
were  distant  relations,  cousins  of  some  degree,  and 
how  their  two  mothers  knew  one  another  and  had 
met.  At  all  events,  John  knew  enough  about 
Jesus  to  feel  that  He  did  not  need  the  washing 
of  repentance. 


THE   BAPTISM  229 

But  Jesus  made  John  baptize  Him,  to  show  that 
He,  too,  wished  to  belong  to  the  Kingdom. 

Then  they  both  went  into  the  water,  and  John 
baptized  Jesus.  As  He  was  coming  up  from  the 
water  Jesus  saw  a  vision  —  it  looked  like  the  sky 
being  torn  open,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  coming 
through  and  descending  on  Him  like  a  dove,  while 
a  voice  came  out  of  the  sky,  saying,  "  Thou  art  My 
beloved  Son  ;  in  Thee  I  have  been  well  pleased." 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  TEMPTATION 

If  you  were  to  go  to  the  valley  of  the  Jordan, 
near  to  where  the  city  of  Jericho  stood  in  the  olden 
times,  and  then  look  up  one  night  to  the  mountains 
behind  which  the  sun  had  set,  you  would  see  lights 
twinkling  here  and  there  in  what  had  seemed  in  the 
daytime  a  wild  and  desolate  region.  They  are  the 
lights  of  the  hermits,  who  live  in  caves  among  these 
mountains,  because  it  has  been  supposed  that  this  is 
the  very  place  where  Jesus  went  directly  after  His 
baptism. 

The  Spirit  of  God,  that  came  upon  Him  as  He 
went  up  with  John  the  Baptist  from  the  Jordan, 
drove  Him  into  the  wild  country.  There  He  was 
for  forty  days  without  food.  This  country  is  the 
haunt  of  wild  beasts,  and  Jesus  lived  among  them. 
They  found  that  He  had  not  come,  as  other  men 
came,  to  hunt  and  kill  them.  He  was  so  gentle ; 
they  could  not  long  be  afraid  of  Him.  But  it  was 
a  hard  and  terrible  time  for  Jesus,  and  dark  thoughts 
came  into  His  mind. 

In  His  baptism  Jesus  had  publicly  given  Himself 
to  the  service  of  God.  We  may  suppose  He  would 
want  to  think  out  the  course  of  His  great  life-work. 
After  we  have  given  ourselves  to  God,  it  is  right 

230 


THE  TEMPTATION  231 

and  necessary  that  we  should  have  a  quiet  medita- 
tion by  ourselves  to  consider  the  best  way  of  living 
to  His  glory. 

But  it  was  the  Spirit  of  God  in  Jesus  that  drove 
Him  into  the  desert.  He  had  new  gifts  and  new 
powers.  How  should  He  use  them  ?  That  is  a 
question  that  comes  with  all  new  gifts  and  powers. 

Now,  new  powers  mean  new  temptations,  because 
they  may  all  be  used  in  wrong  ways.  Jesus  knew 
He  was  to  be  the  Messiah,  the  Christ,  the  promised 
King  and  Saviour.  How  should  He  win  His  throne  ? 
How  should  He  reign  over  His  kingdom  ?  There 
were  worldly  and  wicked  ways  of  reaching  the  ends 
before  Him,  such  as  kings  and  conquerors  usually 
took.  They  seemed  the  easiest  ways,  and  Jesus  was 
tempted  to  follow  them. 

Then  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  Him 
was  to  help  Him  to  do  most  wonderful  things.  It 
seemed  as  though  He  might  make  some  of  these 
serve  Him  very  easily. 

So  the  spirit  of  evil  that  we  call  Satan,  the  spirit 
that  comes  to  us  all,  and  whispers  wicked  thoughts 
and  desires  in  our  hearts,  came  to  Jesus  in  the  lonely 
desert,  where  He  had  no  friends,  and  brought  plans 
of  evil  to  His  mind. 

After  His  long  fasting,  Jesus  had  a  great  craving 
for  food.  Hungry  men  are  tantalized  in  their  imagi- 
nation with  fancy  pictures  of  feasts.  The  stones  on 
the  mountain-side  looked  to  the  hungry  Jesus  like 
loaves  of  bread. 


232  JESUS   THE  PROPHET 

Then  the  wicked  spirit  said,  "If  you  are  the 
Son  of  God,  command  these  stones  to  become 
loaves." 

If  Jesus  had  done  so,  He  would  have  worked  a 
wonder  for  His  own  comfort.  He  felt  that  to  do 
so  would  be  to  spoil  His  life  and  work. 

So  He  answered  by  quoting  Scripture,  "  Man  shall 
not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that 
proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God." 

Then  the  evil  spirit  made  Him  fancy  Himself  on 
a  high  tower  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  the 
voice  of  vanity  urged  Him  to  fling  Himself  down, 
trusting  that  God  would  take  care  of  Him.  The 
first  temptation  was  to  do  the  best  He  could  for 
Himself;  this  second  temptation  was  just  of  the 
opposite  kind  —  to  trust  God  in  a  foolish  and 
wrong  way.  It  was  backed  up  with  a  text  of 
Scripture ;  for  even  the  Bible  may  be  used  to  teach 
error  and  tempt  to  sin,  if  texts  are  taken  out  of 
their  right  sense  and  connection. 

Jesus  saw  through  the  deception,  and  answered, 
"Again  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the 
Lord  thy  God." 

Once  more  the  wicked  spirit  tempted  Him. 
Jesus  seemed  to  be  on  a  high  mountain  from 
which  he  could  see  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world, 
and  all  their  wealth  and  splendour. 

The  tempter  said,  "  All  these  will  I  give  you, 
if  you  will  fall  down  and  worship  me." 

This  temptation  was  for  Jesus  to  get  power  and 


THE  TEMPTATION  233 

riches  in  wicked  ways.  To  do  so  is  to  worship 
the  devil. 

Jesus  knew  it,  and  He  answered  angrily,  "  Away 
with  you,  Satan ;  for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt 
worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  Him  only  shalt 
thou  serve." 

Then  the  bad,  tempting  spirit  left  Jesus,  and 
good  spirits  from  God  came  to  Him,  filling  His 
mind  with  holy  and  peaceful  thoughts,  and  com- 
forting Him. 


CHAPTER   III 

JESUS   IN  HIS   OWN   COUNTRY 

Soon  after  this,  John  the  Baptist  was  seized  and 
shut  up  in  the  dungeon  of  a  gloomy  castle  far 
away  by  the  Dead  Sea,  because  he  had  spoken 
strong  words  against  the  wickedness  of  King  Herod 
and  his  queen.  Then  Jesus  began  to  preach,  taking 
up  John's  work  just  where  it  had  been  stopped. 
It  almost  looked  as  though  He  were  to  be  John's 
successor,  like  Elisha  following  Elijah,  for  He  be- 
gan by  repeating  John's  message.  But  He  went 
up  north  out  of  the  reach  of  the  king,  and  before 
long  He  began  a  new  teaching  of  His  own.  There 
was  so  much  freshness  and  power  in  His  speech 
that  crowds  gathered  about  Him,  charmed  with 
the  wonderful  words  that  fell  from  His  lips.  They 
said,  "  What  is  this  ?  A  new  teaching !  and  full 
of  power !  " 

So  Jesus  went  about  among  the  towns  and 
villages  of  the  north  country  of  the  Jews,  called 
Galilee,  preaching  the  good  news  of  the  coming 
Kingdom  of  God ;  and,  besides  this,  doing  what 
John  had  never  attempted,  healing  the  sick  with 
a  touch  or  even  a  word,  so  that  wherever  He  went 
people  were  bringing  out  the  sufferers  on  their 
beds  for  Him  to  cure  them. 

In  His  travels  Jesus  came  to  His  own  town  of 
234 


JESUS   IN    HIS   OWN    COUNTRY  235 

Nazareth.  One  Saturday  —  the  Sabbath  of  the 
Jews  —  He  went  into  the  synagogue  according  to 
His  custom  in  the  old  quiet  days.  There  was  no 
regular  minister  to  take  the  service.  It  was  usual 
for  the  person  in  charge,  one  of  the  principal  Jews 
—  the  "  rulers  "  they  called  them  —  to  ask  anybody 
whom  he  thought  suitable  to  take  part  in  the  ser- 
vice. So  when  they  had  read  the  first  lesson, 
which  was  from  the  Pentateuch  —  that  is,  a  volume 
made  up  of  the  Old  Testament  books  from  Genesis 
to  Deuteronomy  —  Jesus  stood  up  as  a  sign  that 
He  would  like  to  read  the  second  lesson.  No 
doubt  the  ruler  had  been  told  about  His  great 
work  in  the  villages,  and  so  had  the  people,  and 
they  were  naturally  curious  to  hear  the  voice  of 
their  townsman  who  had  become  so  unexpectedly 
famous.  For  the  second  lesson  the  roll  of  the 
prophets  was  handed  to  Him.  Jesus  unrolled  it 
till  He  came  to  the  part  of  Isaiah  where  it  is  writ- 
ten about  the  Spirit  of  God  coming  on  Someone 
to  help  Him  to  declare  a  most  beautiful  message. 
This  prophecy  told  how  the  Spirit  had  come  be- 
cause the  mysterious  person  referred  to  had  been 
"  anointed  "  —  that  is,  chosen  by  God  —  and  set 
apart,  to  "preach  good  news  to  the  poor."  And 
what  was  the  good  news  ?  It  was  news  of  liberty 
to  captives,  sight  for  the  blind,  the  coming  of 
God's  year  of  grace. 

Jesus  closed  the  book,  gave  it  back  to  the  servant 
in  charge,  and  sat  down  to  preach.     Then  all  the 


236  JESUS   THE   PROPHET 

people  in  the  synagogue  fixed  their  eyes  on  Him  as 
He  began  to  say,  "  To-day  you  have  heard  this 
scripture  fulfilled." 

What  did  He  mean?  He  was  explaining  how  it 
was  that  He,  a  quiet  working-man  for  so  many 
years,  Whom  they  all  knew  so  well,  had  received  the 
Spirit  of  God,  because  He  had  been  anointed,  or 
chosen,  by  God  to  bring  about  the  realizing  of  this 
old,  venerable  promise.  He  knew  that  this  was 
why  the  Spirit  had  come  on  Him  after  His  baptism ; 
and  He  wanted  His  own  townsfolk  to  have  a  share 
in  the  good  time  coming. 

But  they  were  dreadfully  jealous.  They  could 
not  believe  it.  They  thought  He  was  making  too 
much  of  Himself.  "  Is  not  this  the  carpenter  ?  " 
they  said.  When  Jesus  saw  them  growing  restless 
and  angry,  He  changed  the  style  of  His  address 
altogether,  and  reminded  them  how  both  Elijah  and 
Elisha  had  turned  from  the  unbelieving  Jews  and 
brought  God's  blessing  to  heathen  people  —  the 
widow  of  Sidon,  Naaman  the  Syrian.  This  enraged 
the  people  of  Nazareth,  and  they  rose  up  in  a  fury 
and  dragged  Him  out  of  the  synagogue  to  throw 
Him  over  the  cliff  on  which  their  city  stood. 

Now  a  strange  thing  happened.  There  must  have 
been  something  most  wonderful  in  the  quiet  dignity 
of  Christ,  in  the  real  majesty  of  His  Spirit.  It  must 
have  been  this  that  overawed  His  townsfolk  at  the 
last  moment,  for  they  let  Him  pass  away  out  of  their 
midst  unharmed. 


CHAPTER  IV 

4      THE  FISHERMEN 

As  the  people  of  His  own  town  had  turned  against 
Him,  and  even  meant  to  kill  Him,  Jesus  left  that 
place  and  went  to  live  at  another  place,  Capernaum, 
a  town  on  the  shore  of  the  inland  lake  known  as  the 
Sea  of  Galilee.  This  was  a  great  change.  Nazareth 
is  a  highland  town  up  among  the  mountains ;  the 
Sea  of  Galilee  is  in  a  deep  valley  six  hundred  feet 
lower  than  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  At 
the  time  of  Jesus  there  were  villages  and  towns  all 
round  it,  and  swarms  'of  boats  were  busy  sailing  to 
and  fro  over  the  lake.  Capernaum  was  close  down 
by  the  shore.  Looked  at  across  the  blue  waters, 
with  its  white  houses  gleaming  among  gardens  and 
orchards,  and  the  rocky  hills  rising  behind,  it  must 
have  been  a  lovely  spot.  And  yet  it  must  have  been 
a  very  unhealthy  place,  hot  and  steamy.  It  was  not 
for  its  pretty  scenery  that  Jesus  went  to  live  by  the 
lake,  though  He  loved  the  beauty  of  nature.  No 
doubt  His  reason  was  that  here  He  could  meet  with 
the  sort  of  people  He  could  best  make  disciples  of. 

Once  when  the  crowds  came  round  Him  in  such 
numbers  that  there  was  quite  a  crush,  He  saw  two 
empty  boats  drawn  up  by  the  lake.  The  fishermen 
had  gone  out  of  them,  and  were  washing  their  nets. 

237 


238  JESUS   THE   PEOPHET 

He  got  into  one  of  the  boats  which  belonged  to  a 
man  named  Simon,  and  asked  him  to  push  out  a 
little  into  the  water.  Simon  did  so,  and  then  Jesus 
preached  to  the  people  from  the  boat.  Afterwards 
He  said  to  Simon,  "  Put  out  into  deep  water,  and  let 
down  your  nets  for  fishing." 

Simon  answered,  "  Master,  we  toiled  all  night  and 
took  nothing ;  but  at  your  word  I  will  let  down  the 
nets." 

When  they  had  done  so  they  caught  a  host  of 
fishes,  so  that  their  nets  were  breaking.  And  they 
beckoned  to  their  partners  in  the  other  boats  to 
come  and  help  them.  There  were  so  many  fishes 
they  filled  both  boats,  so  that  they  were  almost 
swamped. 

Simon  was  amazed  at  the  sight,  and  so  were  those 
who  were  with  him,  and  he  fell  down  on  his  knees 
before  Jesus,  saying,  "  Leave  me ;  for  I  am  a  sinful 
man,  Lord." 

And  Jesus  said  ^o  Simon,  "  Do  not  be  afraid ; 
after  this  you  shall  catch  men." 

So  Jesus  called  Simon,  to  whom  he  gave  the  name 
Peter,  which  means  "  Rock,"  and  also  his  brother 
Andrew,  to  follow  Him ;  and  then  He  called  their 
partners,  who  were  two  brothers  named  James  and 
John.  They  all  four  left  their  boats  and  their 
homes,  and  followed  Jesus  wherever  He  went. 
These  fishermen  were  His  first  constant  followers. 
We  might  say  they  were  the  beginning  of  the 
Church  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  V 

HIS   WONDERFUL  WORKS   OF   HEALING 

Wherever  He  went  Jesus  found  sick  people  to 
heal ;  and  often  great  numbers  of  them,  suffering 
from  all  kinds  of  complaints,  were  brought  to  Him, 
and  He  perfectly  cured  them  all. 

When  He  had  called  Simon  and  Andrew  to  follow 
Him,  Simon  took  Him  to.  his  house.  There  they 
found  Simon's  wife's  mother  ill  with  fever.  The 
people  of  the  house  told  Him  about  her  at  once. 
Jesus  came  to  her,  and  took  her  by  the  hand  and 
raised  her  up ;  and  the  fever  left  her,  and  she 
waited  on  them.  That  evening  a  host  of  sick  peo- 
ple were  brought  to  Simon's  door,  and  Jesus  healed 
them  all.  The  next  day  He  got  up  very  early,  be- 
fore it  was  light,  and  went  into  a  desert  place  to 
pray.  When  His  friends  found  Him  He  said,  "  Let 
us  go  into  the  next  towns  that  I  may  preach  there 
too." 

So  they  started  on  their  travels.  On  the  way 
they  met  a  miserable  creature,  covered  over  with 
sores  and  white  scabs.  He  was  what  they  call  a 
"leper."  People  shrank  from  lepers,  and  would 
not  go  near  them,  they  looked  such  horrible  objects. 
When  this  poor  leper  saw  Jesus,  he  ran  to  Him  and 

r  241 


242  JESUS   THE  PROPHET 

kneeled  down  before  Him  saying,  "  If  you  will  yon 
can  make  me  clean." 

Jesus  was  moved  with  a  deep  pity,  and  stretched 
out  His  hand  and  touched  him,  saying,  "  I  will ;  be 
made  clean."  Immediately  the  disease  left  him,  and 
he  was  made  clean.  But  now,  because  Jesus  had 
touched  a  leper,  men  would  say  that  He  was  un- 
clean. So  He  had  to  keep  out  in  desert  places  for 
a  time.     But  the  people  came  to  Him  from  all  parts. 

When  He  came  back  to  Capernaum,  and  it  had 
got  abroad  that  He  was  in  a  house,  a  great  crowd 
gathered  together  so  that  there  was  no  more  room, 
not  even  about  the  door,  and  He  preached  to  them. 
Presently  four  men  came  up,  carrying  on  a  mattress 
a  man  who  was  paralyzed,  and  had  lost  the  power  of 
his  limbs.  When  they  found  they  could  not  get  in 
because  of  the  crowd,  they  went  up  an  outside  stair- 
case to  the  top  of  the  house,  took  off  part  of  the 
roof,  and  let  the  man  down  into  the  midst  of  the 
people  where  Jesus  was  preaching. 

Jesus,  seeing  the  faith  they  had  to  take  so  much 
trouble  in  bringing  the  paralyzed  man  to  Him,  said 
to  the  poor  sufferer,  "  Child,  your  sins  are  forgiven 
you."  This  very  much  shocked  some  teachers  of 
religion  called  "  Scribes,"  who  were  standing  by. 

"  Why  does  this  man  speak  so  ?  "  they  said.  "  He 
is  blaspheming ;  who  can  forgive  sins  but  One  — 
God?" 

Though  they  only  said  this  quietly  among  them- 
selves, Jesus  understood  what  they  were  saying. 


Outside  Stairs 


5s"js  *J 

rr.      in!  o  wi 


K 


HIS  WONDERFUL   WORKS  OF  HEALING        245 

So  He  turned  to  them  and  said,  "  Why  do  you 
reason  these  things  in  your  hearts?  Which  is 
easier,  to  say  to  the  paralyzed  man,  Your  sins  are 
forgiven,  or  to  say,  Arise,  and  take  up  your  bed 
and  walk?  But  to  show  that  the  Son  of  man  has 
power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins  "  —  then  He  turned 
to  the  paralyzed  man,  and  spoke  directly  to  him  — 
"I  say  to  you,  Arise,  take  up  your  bed,  and  go 
home." 

And  he  arose,  and  took  up  his  mattress  at  once, 
and  went  out  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people,  so  that 
they  were  amazed,  and  praised  God,  saying,  "  We 
never  saw  things  happening  in  this  way  before." 


CHAPTER  VI 

HOW  JESUS   GAVE  OFFENCE 

After  Jesus  had  called  the  four  fishermen  to 
follow  Him  He  went  on  to  gather  other  followers. 
Thus,  once  He  was  in  the  very  busiest  part  of  the 
town,  where  merchants  and  pedlars  paid  the  taxes 
on  their  wares  as  they  passed  through.  Jesus  saw 
one  of  the  tax-collectors,  named  Matthew,  sitting  at 
his  work,  and  said  to  him,  "  Follow  Me." 

Then  Matthew  gave  up  his  office,  and  made  a 
great  feast  for  his  friends,  and  invited  Jesus  there. 
Now  the  Jews  disliked  the  tax-gatherers,  because 
they  collected  money  for  the  foreign  Roman  govern- 
ment that  had  conquered  their  land  some  years 
before,  and  because  they  were  thought  to  cheat 
for  their  own  advantage.  Still,  Jesus  went  to  the 
feast.  The  people  who  were  most  strict  in  their 
religious  ways  were  called  Pharisees.  The  word 
means  "  separated  people  "  ;  they  kept  apart  from 
other  people,  making  themselves  out  to  be  better. 

Some  of  these  Pharisees,  and  some  of  the  teachers 
of  religion,  the  Scribes,  were  very  much  shocked  at 
Jesus  going  to  eat  with  tax-gatherers. 

When  Jesus  heard  of  this  He  said,  "  They  that 
are  healthy  do  not  need  a  physician,  but  they  that 

246 


HOW  JESUS   GAVE  OFFENCE  lM7 

are  sick;  I  came  not  to  call  good  people,  but 
sinners." 

Jesus  often  shocked  these  strict  people  who 
thought  themselves  so  good.  It  was  not  that  He 
was  easy  and  careless ;  He  hated  sin,  and  loved 
real  goodness  far  more  than  they  did.  But  they 
were  fussy  about  little  things,  though  they  did  not 
practise  real  goodness ;  and  they  were  harsh  and 
unjust  in  judging  other  people,  while  Jesus  was 
reasonable  and  kind.  Jesus  saw  that  His  teaching 
would  never  agree  with  the  teaching  of  the  religious 
people  of  His  day.  He  said  that  nobody  would 
patch  an  old  garment  with  an  unshrunk  piece  of 
cloth,  for  if  it  were  done  the  shrinking  of  the  new 
would  tear  the  old,  and  nobody  would  put  new 
wine  into  old  wine-skins,  or  the  wine-skins  would 
burst,  and  the  wine  be  spilt.  He  meant  that  His 
teaching  was  so  new  and  so  different  from  what 
went  before  that  both  would  be  spoilt  if  they  were 
joined  together  so  that  what  He  taught  was  forced 
into  old  forms  and  customs. 

Then  Jesus  gave  offence  because  He  and  His 
disciples  did  not  observe  the  endless  rules  about 
washing,  not  for  cleanliness,  but  just  for  a  religious 
form;  and  because  they  did  not  fast  as  a  duty. 
But  the  greatest  offence  was  in  the  matter  of  the 
Sabbath.  Keeping  the  Sabbath  was  the  principal 
thing  in  religion  with  these  strict  Jews,  and  they 
took  it  to  mean  doing  nothing  on  that  day  that 
might  be  called  work.     Once,  when  Jesus  and  His 


2-48  JESUS   THE  PROPHET 

disciples  were  going  through  the  cornfields,  they 
began  to  make  a  way  for  themselves  by  gathering 
the  ears  of  corn  and  eating  it.  This  was  often  done, 
and  nobody  objected  to  it  in  itself.  But  the  strict 
people  were  shocked  at  its  being  done  on  the 
Sabbath.  Then  Jesus  said,  "  The  Sabbath  is  made 
for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath.  So  the 
Son  of  man  is  Lord  even  of  the  Sabbath." 

Another  Sabbath,  when  Jesus  saw  a  man  with  a 
withered  arm  in  the  synagogue,  He  said  to  him, 
"  Stretch  out  your  artn." 

The  man  did  so,  and  it  was  quite  healed.  This 
offended  the  strict  people  more  than  ever,  so  that 
they  began  to  plot  against  Jesus  to  put  Him  to 
death. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE   SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT 

When  Jesus  had  quite  a  number  of  people  who 
liked  to  learn  of  Him,  He  selected  twelve  of  them 
to  be  always  with  Him,  and  to  be  specially  trained 
to  carry  on  His  work.  They  came  to  be  called 
"Apostles."  The  name  means  the  same  as  our 
word  "  missionaries  "  —  people  sent  out.  Jesus  took 
His  twelve  Apostles  away  from  the  multitude  of 
people  who  were  always  crowding  about  Him  round 
the  lake  into  a  quiet  place  up  among  the  mountains, 
and  there  He  gave  them  some  special  teaching. 
He  began  by  saying  who  were  the  really  happy 
people  — 

"Happy  are  the  poor  in  spirit:  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 

heaven. 
Happy  are  they  that  mourn :  for  they  shall  be  comforted. 
Happy  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  goodness:   for 

they  shaU  be  filled. 
Happy  are  the  merciful :  for  they  shall  receive  mercy. 
Happy  are  the  pure  in  heart :  for  they  shall  see  God. 
Happy  are  the  peacemakers :  for  they  shall  be  called  sons  of 

God. 
Happy  are  they  that  have  been  ill-treated  because  of  their 

goodness :  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Then   He    said    His  followers  must  go  beyond  the 
teaching  of  the  Old  Testament.     That  had,  "  Thou 

249 


250 


JESUS   THE   PROPHET 


shalt  not  kill."  Jesus  taught  that  to  hate  our 
brother  is  to  murder  him  in  our  thoughts.  And 
He  added  that  if  we  have  quarrelled  with  our 
brother  we  must  be  reconciled  with  him  before  we 
come  to  the  worship  of  God.  It  used  to  be  said, 
"An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth   for   a  tooth"  — 


A  Pharisee  praying  at  the  Corner 

the  old  law  of  revenge.  This  Jesus  put  an  end  to, 
teaching  His  people  not  to  bear  a  grudge,  but  to 
love  their  enemies. 

Then  He  taught  them  not  to  make  a  show  of  their 
religion  —  when  they  gave  to  the  poor,  not  to  sound 
a  trumpet  before  them;  when  they  prayed,  not  to 
stand  at  the  street-corner  to  be  seen  by  men,  as  some 


THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT        251 

were  proud  to  do.  "  But  thou,  when  thou  prayest," 
He  said,  "  enter  into  thy  inner  chamber,  and  having 
shut  the  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret, 
and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall  recom- 
pense thee."  Jesus  gave  them  this  model  prayer  : 
/ 

"  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven, 
Hallowed  be  Thy  name. 
Thy  kingdom  come. 

Thy  will  be  done  on  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven. 
Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread. 
And  forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  them  that  trespass 

against  us. 
And  lead  us  not  into  temptation, 
But  deliver  us  from  evil." 

He  told  them  not  to  lay  up  for  themselves  treas- 
ures on  earth,  where  moth  and  rust  consume,  and 
where  thieves  break  through  and  steal,  but  to  lay  up 
treasures  in  heaven.  He  said,  "  No  man  can  serve 
two  masters.  You  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon  " 
(that  is,  riches).  And  He  told  them  not  to  be 
anxious  for  the  morrow  — "  See  the  birds  in  the 
sky  ;  they  do  not  sow  or  reap  or  gather  into  barns ; 
and  your  heavenly  Father  feeds  them.  Are  you 
not  of  much  more  value  than  they?  Consider  the 
lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow ;  they  toil  not, 
neither  do  they  spin ;  yet  I  say  to  you  that  Solomon 
in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these. 
But  if  God  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field,  which 
to-day  is  and  to-morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall 
He  not  much  more  clothe  you,  O  you  of  little  faith  ?  " 


252  JESUS   THE  PROPHET 

Then  He  taught  them  not  to  judge  others,  and 
not  to  look  out  for  their  faults.  "  Why,"  He  said, 
"  do  you  look  at  the  speck  of  dust  in  your  brother's 
eye,  and  do  not  notice  the  beam  that  is  in  your  own 
eye?" 

He  went  on  to  encourage  them  to  pray,  saying, 
"  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you ;  seek,  and  you 
shall  find;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  to  you. 
What  man  is  there  of  you,  who,  if  his  son  shall  ask 
him  for  a  loaf,  will  give  him  a  stone ;  or  if  he  shall 
ask  for  a  fish,  will  give  him  a  serpent  ?  If  you  then, 
being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  to  your 
children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father  that  is 
in  heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  Him  ?  " 

Jesus  gave  His  friends  the  golden  rule  — "  As 
you  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  you  also  to 
them."  Many  other  great  and  wise  teachings  He 
gave  them,  and  then  He  finished  with  these  words 
about  two  houses  : 

"  Everybody  who  hears  my  words  and  does  them, 
I  will  show  you  what  he  is  like.  He  is  like  a  man 
building  a  house,  who  digged  and  went  deep,  and 
laid  a  foundation  on  the  rock ;  and  when  there  was 
a  flood,  the  stream  broke  against  that  house,  and 
could  not  shake  it,  because  it  had  been  well  built. 
But  he  who  hears  and  does  not,  is  like  a  man  that 
built  a  house  upon  the  earth  without  a  foundation ; 
against  which  the  stream  broke,  and  immediately  it 
fell  in  ;  and  the  ruin  of  that  house  was  great." 

These  are  some  of  the  things  that  Jesus  said  to 


THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT       253 

His  twelve  Apostles,  when  He  had  them  by  them- 
selves among  the  mountains  in  a  lonely  place.  But 
they  have  been  treasured  up  for  all  time,  and  they 
are  the  best  of  all  the  teachings  we  can  listen  to 
to-day. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE   WILD   MAN  AMONG  THE   TOMBS 

When  Jesus  had  been  teaching  and  healing  the 
great  crowds  that  came  to  Him,  He  was  very  tired. 
So  His  friends  took  Him  in  a  boat  across  the  lake. 
Suddenly  a  storm  came  on,  and  even  the  fishermen 
were  frightened.  But  Jesus  was  asleep  on  a  cushion 
in  the  stern.  They  woke  Him,  saying,  "  Teacher,  do 
you  not  care  if  we  perish  ?  " 

Then  He  rose  and  said  to  the  waves,  "  Peace,  be 
still." 

And  the  wind  dropped,  and  there  was  a  great 
calm. 

And  He  said  to  them,  "  Why  are  you  frightened ; 
have  you  not  yet  faith  ?  " 

Jesus  had  such  faith  in  the  care  of  His  Father,  He 
could  sleep*  right  through  a  storm. 

On  the  other  side  they  saw  a  wild  man  who  lived 
in  the  cave-tombs.  He  was  mad  ;  he  thought  there 
was  a  whole  regiment  of  demons  in  him.  He  was  so 
strong  that,  though  he  had  been  chained,  he  had 
broken  his  fetters,  and  he  had  torn  off  his  clothes. 
There  he  was  among  the  tombs,  night  and  day  cut- 
ting himself  with  stones  and  yelling  aloud.  When 
he  saw  Jesus,  he  ran  and  fell  down  before  Him. 
Jesus  commanded  the  evil  spirit  to  come  out  of  Him. 

254 


o 


& 


255 


/Ar 

t 

m* 

(0 

HE 

*w 

&!l 

UJ  o 

|«o 

> 

V 

Z 
3 

THE  WILD   MAN  AMONG   THE  TOMBS  257 

Part  of  the  story  is  very  strange  and  difficult  to 
understand.  It  tells  how  the  demons  asked  to  be 
allowed  to  go  into  a  herd  of  swine,  and  how  Jesus 
permitted  them,  and  then  how  the  herd  rushed  down 
a  steep  place  and  were  drowned  in  the  lake.  But 
the  best  of  it  is  that  Jesus  cured  the  miserable  man, 
and  left  him  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind. 


CHAPTER  IX 

STORIES   OF   A   LITTLE   GIRL   AND   A   WIDOW'S   SON 

When  Jesus  got  back  to  Capernaum,  He  found  a 
man  named  Jairus,  one  of  the  principal  people  at  the 
synagogue,  waiting  for  Him. 

As  soon  as  he  saw  Jesus,  Jairus  fell  at  His  feet 
and  begged  Him  very  earnestly,  saying,  "  My  little 
daughter  is  at  the  point  of  death.  I  pray  you  come 
and  lay  your  hands  on  her,  that  she  may  be  healed 
and  live." 

Jesus  started  off  at  once.  There  was  a  great 
crowd  about  Him,  and  in  the  crowd  a  woman  who 
was  ill  crept  up  behind  Him,  and  just  touched  the 
fringe  of  His  cloak.  "For,"  she  said  to  herself, 
"  if  I  only  touch  the  fringe  of  His  cloak,  I  shall  be 
made  well."  And  directly  she  touched  it  she  felt 
herself  cured. 

But  Jesus,  finding  in  Himself  that  healing  power 
had  gone  out  of  Him,  turned  and  said,  "  Who 
touched  my  clothes  ?  " 

When  He  looked  round  to  see  who  had  done  it, 
the  woman  came,  full  of  fear  and  trembling,  and  fell 
at  His  feet,  and  told  Him  the  truth. 

And  Jesus  said  to  her,  "  Daughter,  your  faith  has 
cured  you ;  go  in  peace,  and  be  healed  of  your 
plague." 

258 


259 


pqo> 


STORY  OF   A   WIDOW'S   SON  li<i  1 

While  He  was  speaking,  they  came  from  the 
house  of  Jairus,  saying,  "  Your  daughter  is  dead  ; 
why  do  you  trouble  the  Teacher  any  more  ? " 

But  Jesus  said,  "  Fear  not,  only  believe." 

When  they  came  to  the  house  they  found  the 
hired  mourners  playing  flutes  and  howling.  Jesus 
was  vexed,  and  He  said,  "  Why  do  you  make  this 
noise?     The  child  is  not  dead.     She  is  asleep." 

Then  they  laughed  and  mocked  at  Him,  for  they 
knew  she  was  dead.  But  Jesus,  putting  all  the 
strangers  out,  took  with  Him  only  the  father  and 
mother  of  the  child  and  Peter,  James,  and  John,  and 
went  into  the  room  where  the  child  was.  Taking 
her  by  the  hand,  He  said  in  the  language  of  the 
country,  u  Talitha  cumi"  which  means,  "  Little  maid, 
arise." 

And  immediately  sh«  rose  up  and  walked.  Then 
He  told  them  to  give  her  something  to  eat.  Her 
parents  were  amazed,  as  well  they  might  be  ;  but 
Jesus  commanded  them  to  tell  nobody  what  had 
been  done. 

We  read  in  the  Gospels  of  two  other  cases  in 
which  Jesus  raised  the  dead. 

One  of  these  is  that  of  the  widow's  son.  It  is 
found  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke.  As  Jesus  was  draw- 
ing near  to  the  gate  of  a  little  city  called  Nain,  He 
met  a  funeral  coming  out.  It  was  a  particularly  sad 
funeral,  for  they  were  going  to  bury  the  only  son  of 
a  widow.  Now  his  mother  was  left  quite  alone  in 
the  world,  and  as  she  went  along  she  wept  aloud, 


262  JESUS   THE  PROPHET 

for  her  heart  was  broken.  When  Jesus  saw  her,  He 
was  moved  with  deep  feeling  for  her,  and  He  said  to 
her,  "Do  not  weep." 

Then  He  came  near  and  touched  the  bier  on  which 
they  were  carrying  the  dead  man.  There  was  no 
coffin,  only  a  cloth  thrown  over  him.  The  men 
who  were  carrying  him  stood  still,  and  Jesus  said, 
"  Young  man,  I  say  to  you,  Arise  !  " 

Immediately,  he  sat  up  and  began  to  speak. 
Everybody  was  very  much  frightened  at  the  sight, 
but  they  praised  God  for  the  great  wonder. 

The  third  case  in  which  Jesus  raised  the  dead  is 
that  of  Lazarus.  The  story  is  told  us  by  John,  and 
we  will  take  his  stories  together. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE    WOMAN    WHO    WASHED    THE    FEET    OF    JESUS 
WITH   HER  TEARS 

A  Pharisee  once  asked  Jesus  to  dine  with  Him. 
Jesus  went,  for  He  was  always  ready  to  be  friendly 
to  those  who  would  show  the  least  friendliness  to 
Him.  But  the  Pharisee  was  an  ill-mannered  host, 
as  this  story  will  show. 

In  the  time  of  Jesus,  the  Jews  used  to  sit  at  table 
on  couches,  leaning  on  their  left  elbow,  and  with 
their  feet  out  behind.  When  Jesus  was  like  this 
at  the  Pharisee's  table,  a  woman  who  had  lived  a 
sad  life,  and  who  bore  a  bad  character,  came  behind 
Him  with  a  flask  of  ointment.  Stooping  over  His 
feet,  she  burst  into  tears ;  then  she  washed  them 
with  her  tears,  and  wiped  them  with  her  hair.  She 
kissed  His  feet  over  and  over  again,  and  lastly  she 
poured  the  ointment  from  her  flask  on  them. 

This  very  much  shocked  the  Pharisee,  and  he  said, 
"  If  this  man  were  a  prophet,  He  would  have  found 
out  what  a  bad  woman  she  is  who  is  touching  Him.,, 

Jesus  said,  "  Simon  "  —  for  that  was  the  Pharisee's 
name  (not  Simon  Peter,  of  course,  but  another 
Simon)  —  "  Simon,  I  have  something  to  say  to  you." 

44  Go  on,  Teacher,"  said  Simon. 

"  A  certain  money-lender  had  two  debtors.  One 
owed  him  five  hundred   shillings,   the  other  fifty. 

263 


264  JESUS   THE  PROPHET 

When  they  had  nothing  to  pay  with,  he  forgave 
them  both.  Which  of  them,  therefore,  will  love 
him  most?" 

Simon  answered,  "  He,  I  suppose,  to  whom  he 
forgave  the  most." 

Jesus  said,  "You  judge  rightly."  Then  turning 
to  the  woman,  He  said  to  Simon,  "  Do  you  see  this 
woman  ?  I  came  into  your  house  ;  you  gave  me  no 
water  for  my  feet ;  but  she  has  washed  my  feet  with 
her  tears,  and  wiped  them  with  her  hair.  You  gave 
me  no  kiss ;  but  she  ever  since  I  came  in  has  not 
left  off  kissing  my  feet  over  and  over  again.  You 
did  not  even  anoint  my  head  with  oil ;  she  has 
anointed  my  feet  with  ointment.  Therefore  I  tell 
you  her  sins,  which  are  many,  are  forgiven,  for  she 
loved  much ;  but  to  whom  little  is  forgiven,  that 
person  loves  little." 

And  He  said  to  the  woman,  "  Your  sins  are  for- 
given." 

The  people  who  were  sitting  with  Him  at  the 
Pharisee's  table  said,  "  Who  is  this  that  even  for- 
gives sins  ?  " 

Jesus  took  no  notice  of  them.  He  only  spoke  to 
the  woman  again,  and  said,  "Your  faith  has  saved 
you;  go  in  peace." 


CHAPTER  XI 

WONDERS  IN  THE  DESERT   AND  ON   THE  SEA 

The  more  Jesus  went  about  preaching  and  heal- 
ing the  greater  the  crowds  were  that  needed  help. 
He  was  full  of  pity  for  them.  They  were  distressed 
and  scattered  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  So 
He  divided  the  work  wi£h  His  twelve  apostles,  send- 
ing them  out  two  and  two  in  various  directions  ;  and 
they  went  about  preaching  that  people  should  turn 
from  their  sins  and  prepare  for  the  coming  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  ;  and  as  they  went  they  cast  out 
many  evil  spirits,  and  anointed  many  sick  people  with 
oil,  and  healed  them. 

When  they  came  back  to  Jesus  they  told  Him  all 
they  had  done.  And  He  said,  "  Come  by  yourselves 
apart  into  a  desert  place  and  rest  awhile." 

So  He  went  with  them  across  the  lake  to  the  quiet, 
lonely  hills  on  the  other  side.  But  the  people  were 
still  so  eager  they  would  not  let  them  alone.  They 
followed  round  the  shore  and  met  them  on  the  other 
side.  Jesus  had  too  much  pity  for  them  to  refuse 
to  work  among  them  again  ;  and  He  set  Himself  to 
teach  them  many  things  out  there  in  the  wild  coun- 
try. As  the  day  was  wearing  away  He  was  still 
preaching,  and  the  people  were  still  eagerly  hang- 
ing on  His  words.     By  this  time  they  were  getting 

265 


266  JESUS   THE  PROPHET 

faint  and  hungry,  and  that  in  a  very  lonely  place 
far  away  from  houses  and  shops.  The  disciples  be- 
gan to  get  anxious,  and  they  came  to  Jesus  to  ask 
Him  to  send  the  people  away  to  the  villages  round 
about  to  buy  themselves  something  to  eat. 

But  Jesus  said,  "  Do  you  give  them  some  food." 

They  answered,  "  Shall  we  go  and  buy  two  hun- 
dred shillings'  worth  of  bread  to  feed  them  ?  " 

"  How  many  loaves  have  you  ?  "  He  asked.  "  Go 
and  see." 

When  they  had  found  out  they  said,  "Five,  and 
two  fishes." 

Then  Jesus  had  the  people  arranged  in  orderly 
lines  of  hundreds  and  fifties.  Now  it  was  the  spring- 
time, when  the  grass  which  is  burnt  brown  for  most 
of  the  year  is  growing  up  fresh  after  the  rain  ;  and 
as  the  people  sat  in  their  bright-coloured  clothes  in 
regular  order  on  the  green  grass,  it  all  seemed  to 
Peter  like  beds  of  flowers  in  a  well-kept  garden. 

Jesus  took  the  five  loaves  and  the  two  fishes,  and 
looking  up  to  the  blue  sky  overhead,  He  gave  thanks 
to  God.  Then  He  broke  the  loaves  and  handed  the 
pieces  to  His  apostles,  and  they  took  the  food  round 
to  the  people.  Everybody  had  as  much  as  he  could 
eat,  although  it  was  reckoned  that  there  were  as 
many  as  five  thousand  men  ;  there  were  even  twelve 
baskets  full  of  broken  pieces  left  over. 

When  Jesus  had  sent  the  crowds  away,  and  made 
His  apostles  get  into  the  little  ship  and  sail  off,  He 
went  alone  up  into  a  mountain  to  pray.     But  pres- 


WONDERS   IN   THE  DESERT   AND   ON   THE  SEA      2G7 

ently  He  saw  that  the  wind  was  against  them,  and 
that  they  were  distressed  with  rowing.  So  He  came 
to  them  over  the  water.  They  were  terrified  at  the 
sight  of  Him.  They  thought  it  must  be  a  ghost. 
As  He  seemed  to  be  passing  by  them  they  cried  out 
for  fear.  But  the  next  moment  they  heard  the  voice 
of  Jesus  coming  over  the  water,  "  Be  of  good  cheer  ; 
it  is  I ;  be  not  afraid." 

Then  He  came  up  to  them  into  the  boat ;  the 
wind  dropped  ;  and  they  soon  reached  the  place  for 
which  they  were  making. 

These  are  indeed  wonderful  narratives.  We  can- 
not even  picture  to  our  minds  what  Jesus  did  to 
make  the  food  enough  for  all. 


Ill 

Jesus  the  King 
chapter  I 

AMONG  THE   HEATHEN 

We  now  come  to  a  great  change  in  the  life  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  have  seen  Him  going  about 
among  crowds  of  people,  speaking  to  them  like  a 
prophet,  and  healing  their  sick,  and  doing  other 
wonders.  But  from  the  time  we  have  come  to  He 
lived  a  quiet  life  in  very  out-of-the-way  places. 

I  must  tell  you  how  this  came  about.  You  will 
remember  that  the  strict  religious  people  and  the 
teachers  of  religion  had  been  offended  at  Jesus,  and 
had  turned  against  Him  and  begun  to  plot  for  His 
death.  The  chief  of  the  Jews  sent  down  spies  to 
Galilee  to  watch  Him.  But  the  worst  thing  was 
that  the  people  of  the  towns  and  villages  who  had 
lately  flocked  to  hear  Him  were  disappointed  with 
Him.  If  He  had  come  out  as  a  fighting  leader 
against  the  government  of  Rome,  and  offered  to  be 
the  king  of  the  Jews,  that  would  have  delighted 
them  immensely,  and  they  would  have  gathered 
round  Him  for  a  mad  insurrection.     But   He   did 

268 


AMONG  THE   HEATHEN  269 

nothing  of  the  kind.  And  some  of  His  sayings 
were  very  hard  to  follow.  Then  many  who  had 
been  His  disciples  fell  away  and  left  Him. 

Jesus  set  out  with  the  faithful  few  who  still  clung 
to  Him,  when  so  many  of  His  old  followers  had  fallen 
off,  and  travelled  right  up  to  the  heathen  country  by 
the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea  over  the  borders 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon.  He  went  into  a  house  and  did 
not  wish  it  to  be  known  that  He  was  there.  But 
the  fame  of  Him  had  reached  even  this  distant  place. 
A  woman  whose  little  daughter  was  very  much 
afflicted  had  heard  about  Him.  She  was  not  a 
Jewess  ;  she  was  a  native  of  the  heathen  country. 
Still  she  prayed  Jesus  to  come  and  heal  the  child. 

Jesus  made  an  answer  that  does  not  read  at  all 
like  Him.  "Let  the  children  first  be  fed,"  He  said, 
"  for  it  is  not  fit  to  take  the  children's  bread  and 
throw  it  to  dogs." 

The  Jews  called  the  heathen  dogs.  But  you  may 
be  sure  Jesus  did  not  think  of  them  in  so  unkind  a 
way.  Still,  during  His  life  on  earth  His  work  was 
among  the  Jews  ;  and  perhaps  He  spoke  as  He  did 
to  the  poor,  troubled  woman  to  see  what  she  was 
like,  and  if  she  could  still  believe  in  Him  when  He 
seemed  unkind. 

She  answered,  u  Yes,  Sir,  but  even  the  dogs  under 
the  table  eat  of  the  children's  crumbs." 

It  was  a  clever  answer,  and  a  brave  one  too,  and 
full  of  hope.  She  would  not  give  up  ;  for  you  see 
she  was  a  mother.     Jesus  was  very  pleased  with  her 


270  JESUS   THE  KING 

answer,  and  He  told  her  that  for  the  sake  of  that 
saying  her  daughter  was  cured.  When  she  went 
home  she  found  the  child  lying  on  her  bed  at  rest 
and  cured. 

After  this  Jesus  went  down  to  the  half-heathen 
country  on  the  east  of  the  sea  of  Galilee.  There 
He  worked  very  few  miracles,  and  these  seemed  to 
come  with  difficulty,  not  at  all  like  His  earlier  mir- 
acles, perhaps  because  there  was  not  much  faith  in 
Him  now  among  the  people. 

Once  they  brought  Him  a  deaf  and  dumb  man, 
and  begged  Him  to  lay  His  hand  on  him.  Jesus 
took  the  man  aside  from  the  people,  and  put  His 
fingers  in  his  ears,  and  spat,  and  touched  his  tongue. 
Then  He  looked  up  to  heaven,  and  sighed,  and  said, 
"  Ephthatha  !  "  —  which  means,  "Be  opened." 

The  man's  ears  were  opened,  and  his  tongue  loosed, 
and  he  began  to  speak  plainly. 

About  this  time  they  brought  a  blind  man  to 
Jesus,  and  begged  Him  to  touch  him.  Jesus  took 
the  man  by  the  hand  and  led  him  out  of  the  village. 
When  He  had  spit  on  his  eyes  and  laid  His  hands 
on  them,  He  asked  him,  "  Do  you  see  anything  ?  " 

The  man  looked  up  and  said,  "  I  see  the  men  ! 
They  look  like  trees  walking  !  " 

Jesus  laid  His  hands  on  him  again ;  and  he  looked 
hard,  and  at  last  he  got  his  sight  perfect. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  GREAT  QUESTION 

Jesus  went  again  to  the  very  borders  of  Palestine 
on  the  north,  this  time  to  the  foot  of  the  great  snow- 
covered  Mount  Hermon,  a  mountain  that  is  nearly 
ten  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level ;  and  he  came 
to  a  new  town,  called  Csesarea  —  as  a  compliment  to 
one  of  the  Caesars  of  Rome.  At  this  place  there 
were  splendid  villas  and  lovely  gardens,  and  a 
heathen  temple  of  Pan,  the  god  of  nature,  by  a 
cave  where  the  River  Jordan  rushes  out  of  the  very 
heart  of  the  mountain,  maiden-hair  ferns  hanging 
over  it,  and  then  plunges  into  a  thicket  of  green 
bushes.  It  is  the  most  beautiful  place  in  all 
Palestine. 

When  Jesus  was  here  with  His  disciples,  far  away 
from  His  own  country,  and  among  signs  of  the 
pomp  and  splendour  of  heathenism,  He  put  a  great 
question  to  them.  But  first  He  asked,  "Who  do 
men  say  that  I  am  ?  " 

And  they  told  Him,  "  Some  John  the  Baptist,  and 
others  Elijah,  and  others  one  of  the  prophets,"  for 
the  Jews  had  a  fancy  that  perhaps  these  great  men 
might  have  come  back  from  the  dead. 

Then  Jesus  asked  them,  "But  who  do  you  say 
that  I  am?"     That  was  the  great  question  for  them. 

271 


272  JESUS   THE  KING 

Peter  answered,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  living  God." 

So  Peter  had  found  out  the  secret.  Jesus  had 
never  told  him.  From  living  with  Him  and  watch- 
ing Him  God  had  led  Peter  to  see  that  Jesus,  who 
went  about  like  a  poor  man,  was  the  promised 
Saviour  ;  yes,  that  He  was  the  Son  of  God. 

Jesus  told  His  disciples  not  to  tell  anybody  that 
He  was  the  Christ.  People  would  not  understand. 
They  would  expect  Him  to  be  a  king  like  David, 
and  to  fight  against  the  Romans.  But  He  had  come 
to  reign  in  the  hearts  of  His  people,  and  to  fight 
against  wickedness  with  the  sword  of  truth. 

Jesus  then  began  to  teach  His  disciples  something 
they  had  never  dreamed  of,  and  which  dreadfully 
frightened  and  distressed  them.  He  said  that  He 
would  have  to  suffer  many  things  from  the  principal 
Jews,  and  be  killed,  and  be  raised  up  on  the  third 
day. 

Peter,  suddenly  seizing  hold  of  Him,  cried,  "  God 
have  mercy  on  you  !  this  shall  never  be  !  " 

Now  this  word  of  His  warm-hearted  friend  was 
really  a  temptation  of  the  Evil  Spirit,  and  Jesus 
knew  it,  so  He  cried  out  in  anger,  "  Get  you  behind 
me,  Satan." 

Then  He  went  on  to  say  to  all  His  disciples,  "  If 
any  man  wishes  to  come  after  Me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  Me.  For 
whoever  wishes  to  save  his  life  shall  lose  it ;  and 
whoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  My  sake  shall  find  it." 


THE  GREAT  QUESTION  273 

Another  time,  a  little  later,  when  He  was  teaching 
His  friends  not  to  seek  the  best  places  for  them- 
selves, He  said,  "  The  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be 
served,  but  to  serve,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom 
for  many."  So  you  see  He  taught  that  it  was  neces- 
sary He  should  die  to  do  His  great  work  of  saving 
the  world. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   TRANSFIGURATION 

Six  days  after  this  Jesus  took  Peter  and  James 
and  John  up  the  great  mountain  apart  by  them- 
selves. Then  a  marvellous  thing  happened.  As  He 
was  praying  His  face  was  changed  most  gloriously 
and  His  clothes  became  white  and  dazzling.  Two 
men  were  with  Him  talking  about  His  death.  They 
were  Moses  and  Elijah,  come  from  the  world  of 
spirits.  Peter  and  James  and  John  were  very 
sleepy  at  the  time.  Still,  they  kept  enough  awake 
to  see  the  bright  light  and  the  two  men  with  Jesus. 

And  Peter  said,  "  Master,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be 
here.  Let  us  make  three  booths,  one  for  you  and 
one  for  Moses  and  one  for  Elijah." 

But  he  did  not  know  what  he  was  saying;  they 
were  all  very  much  frightened.  Next  a  cloud  came 
over  them,  and  a  voice  was  heard  out  of  the  cloud, 
saying,  "This  is  my  beloved  Son;  hear  Him.'' 
Suddenly,  as  they  looked  round,  the  strange  sights 
had  all  vanished.     There  was  only  Jesus  left. 

When  they  came  down  from  the  mountain  and 
drew  near  to  the  other  disciples  they  saw  a  crowd, 
and  the  people  all  in  confusion.  Jesus  asked  what 
was  the  matter.  One  of  the  people  in  the  crowd 
cried   out,  "  Teacher,  look  on  my  son,  I  pray  you, 

274 


THE  TRANSFIGURATION  275 

for  he  is  my  only  child.  A  spirit  seizes  him  sud- 
denly, and  he  becomes  convulsed.  He  is  pining 
away.  I  brought  him  to  your  disciples,  but  they 
could  not  cure  him." 

And  Jesus  answered,  "  Oh,  you  unbelieving  and 
perverse  people.     Bring  him  to  me." 

So  they  brought  him.  When  he  saw  Jesus  the 
poor  boy  fell  down  in  a  fit. 

Jesus  asked,  "  How  long  is  it  since  this  has  come 
on  him  ?  " 

"From  a  child;  and  often  it  has  made  him  fall 
into  the  fire  or  the  water.  But  now,  if  you  can  do 
anything,  have  pity  on  us  and  help  us." 

"If  you  can!  "said  Jesus.  "All  things  are  pos- 
sible to  him  that  believes." 

The  father  cried  out  at  once  with  tears,  "  I  do 
believe;  help  my  unbelief." 

When  Jesus  saw  the  crowd  gathering  round 
angrily,  he  left  off  talking  to  the  father,  and  turning 
to  the  boy,  he  said,  "  Thou  dumb  and  deaf  spirit,  I 
command  thee  come  out  of  him,  and  enter  no  more 
into  him." 

With  a  great  scream  the  boy  fell  on  the  ground  in 
convulsions.  Then  he  lay  quite  still  like  a  dead 
child,  so  that  the  people  said,  "He  is  dead."  But 
Jesus  took  him  by  the  hand  and  raised  him,  and  he 
stood  up  perfectly  cured. 

When  Jesus  was  alone  with  His  disciples,  they 
asked  Him,  "  Why  could  not  we  cast  it  out?" 

He  answered,  "  This  can  only  be  done  by  prayer." 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   LOST   SON 

Although  most  of  the  people  had  now  turned 
against  Jesus,  many  of  those  who  were  despised  and 
hated,  the  tax-gatherers  and  persons  of  bad  char- 
acter, drew  near  to  listen  to  His  preaching.  This 
greatly  offended  the  people  who  thought  themselves 
very  religious,  and  they  complained,  saying,  "This 
man  receives  sinners,  and  eats  with  them." 

But  Jesus  asked  what  man  among  them  who  had 
a  hundred  sheep,  and  lost  one,  would  not  leave  the 
ninety-nine  and  go  to  seek  the  lost  sheep,  and  when 
he  had  found  it  lay  it  on  his  shoulders  with  rejoic- 
ing ?  Or  what  woman  having  ten  pieces  of  silver — 
women  in  the  East  carry  their  money  as  head  orna- 
ments—  if  she  lost  one  would  not  sweep  the  house 
till  she  had  found  it  ?  Now  Jesus  was  just  hunting 
for  lost  sheep  and  lost  treasures.  That  was  why  He 
went  about  among  these  people  of  bad  character. 

To  teach  the  same  lesson  He  said,  "  A  certain 
man  had  two  sons ;  and  the  younger  of  them  said 
to  his  father,  'Father,  give  me  the  share  of  your 
property  that  is  coming  to  me.' 

"And  the  father  divided  his  living  among  them. 

"  Not  many  days  after  the  younger  son  gathered 
all  together,  and  took  his  journey  into  a  far  coun- 

276 


THE  LOST   SON  277 

try ;  and  there  he  wasted  his  property  with  riotous 
living.  And  when  he  had  spent  it  all,  there  was  a 
terrible  famine  in  that  country,  and  he  began  to  be 
in  want. 

"And  he  went  and  joined  himself  to  one  of  the 
citizens  of  that  country,  who  sent  him  into  the  fields 
to  feed  swine.  And  he  would  gladly  have  been  filled 
with  the  bean  pods  that  the  swine  were  fed  on,  and 
nobody  gave  him  anything. 

"  But  when  he  came  to  himself,  he  said,  *  How 
many  hired  servants  of  my  father's  have  bread 
enough  and  to  spare,  and  I  am  perishing  here  with 
hunger.  I  will  arise,  and  go  to  my  father,  and 
will  say  to  him,  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven,  and  in  your  sight ;  I  am  no  more  worthy 
to  be  called  your  son  ;  make  me  as  one  of  your 
hired  servants."' 

"  And  he  got  up  and  went  to  his  father. 

"  But  while  he  was  still  far  off  his  father  saw 
him,  and  was  full  of  pity  for  him,  and  ran,  and 
fell  on  his  neck,  and  kissed  him. 

"  And  the  son  said  to  him,  4  Father,  I  have  sinned 
against  heaven  and  in  your  sight ;  I  am  no  more 
worthy  to  be  called  your  son.' 

"But  the  father  said  to  his  slaves,  'Bring  out 
quickly  the  best  robe,  and  put  it  on  him  ;  and  put 
a  ring  on  his  hand,  and  shoes  on  his  feet,  and  bring 
the  fatted  calf,  and  kill  it,  and  let  us  eat,  and  make 
merry ;  for  this  my  son  was  dead  and  is  alive  again  ; 
he  was  lost,  and  is  found.' 


278  JESUS   THE  KING 

"  And  they  began  to  be  merry. 

"  Now  his  elder  son  was  in  the  field  ;  and  as  he 
drew  near  the  house  he  heard  music  and  dancing. 
He  called  to  him  one  of  the  slaves  and  asked  what 
it  all  meant. 

"  And  he  said  to  him,  4  Your  brother  has  come  ; 
and  your  father  has  killed  the  fatted  calf,  because 
he  has  received  him  safe  and  sound.' 

"But  he  was  angry  and  would  not  go  in.  His 
father  came  out  and  coaxed  him. 

"  But  he  answered,  and  said  to  his  father,  4  See  ! 
these  many  years  I  have  been  serving  you,  and  I 
never  disobeyed  one  of  your  orders  ;  and  yet  you 
never  gave  me  a  kid  that  I  might  make  merry  with 
my  friends.  But  when  this  son  of  yours  has  come, 
who  has  been  eating  up  your  living  with  bad  com- 
pany, you  killed  the  fatted  calf  for  him  ! ' 

"  And  he  said,  '  Son,  you  are  always  with  me, 
and  all  that  is  mine  is  yours.  But  it  was  fit  to 
make  merry  and  be  glad  ;  for  your  brother  was 
dead,  and  is  alive  again ;  and  was  lost,  and  is 
found.'" 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  TRAVELLER,  THE  ROBBERS,  AND  THE  NEIGH- 
BOUR 

A  lawyer  once  stood  up  to  ask  Jesus  what  he 
should  do  to  inherit  eternal  life. 

Jesus  said,  "  What  is  written  in  the  law  ?  How 
do  you  read  it  ?  " 

And  he  answered,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself." 

"You  have  answered  right,"  said  Jesus;  "do  this, 
and  you  shall  live." 

But  the  lawyer  wanted  to  get  the  best  of  the 
talk.  So  he  went  on  and  asked,  "And  who  is  my 
neighbour  ?  " 

Here  is  the  answer  Jesus  made  : 

"  A  certain  man  was  going  down  from  Jerusalem 
to  Jericho,  and  he  fell  among  robbers,  who  stripped 
him,  and  beat  him,  and  went  off,  leaving  him  half 
dead. 

"  And  it  happened  that  a  certain  priest  was  going 
down  that  way,  and  when  he  saw  him  he  passed  by 
on  the  other  side. 

"And  in  the  same  way  a  Levite"  —  that  is  one 
of  the  people  appointed  to  wait  on  the  priests  in 
the  temple  —  "when  he  came  to  the  place  and  saw 
him  passed  by  on  the  other  side. 

279 


280  JESUS  THE  KING 

"  But  a  certain  Samaritan  "  —  that  is  one  of  a  race 
of  people  whom  the  Jews  hated  and  despised  —  "as 
he  journeyed  came  where  the  poor  man  was  lying. 
And  when  he  saw  him  he  was  full  of  pity  for  him. 
He  went  up  to  him,  and  bound  up  his  wounds,  pour- 
ing on  them  oil  and  wine.  Then  he  set  him  on  his 
own  beast,  and  brought  him  to  an  inn,  and  took  care 
of  him.  The  next  day  he  took  out  two  shillings, 
and  gave  them  to  the  innkeeper,  saying,  4  Take  care 
of  him,  and  whatever  you  spend  more,  when  I  come 
back  I  will  repay  you.'  Which  of  these  three  do 
you  think  proved  to  be  a  neighbour  to  him  that  fell 
among  the  robbers  ?  " 

"  He  that  showed  mercy  on  him,"  said  the  lawyer. 

Jesus  said  to  him,  "  Go,  and  do  likewise." 

It  happened,  a  short  time  after  this,  that  ten  men 
who  were  lepers  met  Jesus.  While  they  were  a 
great  way  off  they  cried  aloud,  saying,  "  Jesus,  Mas- 
ter, have  pity  on  us  !  " 

When  He  saw  them  He  said,  "  Go  and  show  your- 
selves to  the  priests.''  For  it  was  the  law  that  when 
a  leper  was  healed  he  must  go  to  one  of  the  priests 
to  show  that  he  was  cured.  As  they  went  they 
were  healed.  Then  one  of  them  turned  back  and 
gave  thanks  to  God  with  a  loud  voice,  and  he  was  a 
Samaritan. 

Jesus  said,  "  Were  there  not  ten  cleansed  ?  But 
where  are  the  nine  ? "  You  see,  it  was  only  the 
Samaritan,  the  despised  stranger,  who  was  thankful. 


Travelling  with  Scrip  and  Girdle 
281 


CHAPTER  VI 

JESUS   AND  THE  CHILDREN 

After  Jesus  had  been  travelling  about  in  the 
most  out-of-the-way  places  for  some  time,  He  passed 
through  Galilee  once  more.  But  He  did  not  wish 
anybody  to  know  it,  for  He  was  teaching  His  disci- 
ples that  He  must  be  delivered  up,  and  be  killed, 
and  rise  again.  They  could  not  understand  Him, 
but  they  were  afraid  to  ask  what  He  meant. 

Jesus  walked  first,  and  His  disciples  walked  be- 
hind Him.  On  the  way  He  heard  them  quarrelling 
together.  When  they  had  reached  Capernaum,  and 
were  in  the  house,  He  asked  them  what  it  was  about. 
They  were  ashamed  to  answer  ;  for  they  had  been 
disputing  as  to  which  of  them  was  the  greatest. 
They  knew  this  would  grieve  their  Master,  it  was 
quite  the  opposite  to  His  spirit.     So  they  were  silent. 

But  He  could  see  what  was  the  matter  ;  so  He 
said,  "  If  any  man  wishes  to  be  first,  the  way  is  to 
make  himself  last  of  all  and  servant  of  all." 

To  teach  this  lesson  the  better  Jesus  called  a  little 
child  to  Him.  Children  were  never  afraid  of  Jesus; 
and  this  child  came  to  Him  without  fear.  Jesus 
took  him  up  and  kissed  and  fondled  him  ;  and  you 
may  be  sure  the  little  fellow  was  as  happy  as  he 
could  be,  nestling  in  the  kind  arms  of  Jesus.  He 
had  no  idea  what  the  great  Teacher  was  talking 

283 


284  JESUS   THE  KING 

about ;  he  never  guessed  that  he  was  there  as  an 
object-lesson  to  those  big,  grown-up  men.  If  he 
had  thought  so  it  would  have  spoilt  it  all.  But  now 
Jesus  held  him  up  in  the  midst  of  them  —  this  simple, 
trusting,  little  child  —  while  He  said,  "Except  you 
turn,  and  become  as  little  children,  you  shall  by  no 
means  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Whoever 
shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  he  is  the 
greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Then  He  went  on  to  teach  kindness  to  children. 
"  Whoever,"  He  said,  "  receives  one  such  little  child 
in  My  name  is  receiving  Me.  But,"  He  added, 
"  whoever  makes  one  of  these  little  ones,  who  trust 
in  Me,  go  wrong,  it  would  be  well  for  him  to  have  a 
great  millstone  hung  about  his  neck,  and  for  him  to 
be  sunk  into  the  middle  of  the  sea." 

It  was  a  little  while  after  this,  when  Jesus  was 
down  in  the  south  country,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
River  Jordan,  that  the  people  brought  their  children 
to  Jesus.  Of  course,  you  all  know  this  story  very 
well. 

Jesus  had  just  been  teaching  the  people,  and  they 
were  very  interested  in  His  answers  to  some  puz- 
zling questions.  The  coming  of  the  children  seemed 
a  tiresome  interruption.  Some  people  always  think 
children  in  the  way.  Jesus  never  thought  so.  Why 
not  ?  For  one  thing,  because  He  was  full  of  love 
and  kindness.  And  then  there  was  something  of 
the  child  in  Jesus.  A  great  poet  has  said,  "  Heaven 
lies  about  us  in  our  infancy." 


JESUS  AND   THE  CHILDREN  285 

When  you  are  no  longer  infants,  when  you  are 
growing  boys  and  girls  in  the  school-room  and  at 
play,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  keep  near  to  heaven.  But 
Jesus  was  always  like  the  little  child ;  heaven  was 
always  quite  close  to  Him. 

So  when  the  disciples  scolded  the  people  who  were 
bringing  the  children,  for  troubling  Jesus,  He  was 
angry  with  them,  and  said,  "  Suffer  the  little  chil- 
dren to  come  to  Me,  and  forbid  them  not ;  for  of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Then  He  did  more 
than  was  expected.  Jewish  mothers  used  to  bring 
their  children  for  learned  rabbis  to  lay  their  hands 
on  and  bless.  Jesus  took  these  children  up  in  His 
arms  first,  and  then  He  put  His  hands  on  them  and 
blessed  them. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  VERY  EAGER  YOUNG  MAN 

Jesus  was  gradually  working  His  way  round 
towards  Jerusalem,  where  He  knew  He  was  to  die. 
As  He  came  out  of  the  quiet  parts  where  He  had 
been  staying,  and  turned  into  the  main  road  up  to 
the  city,  there  was  a  young  man  who  had  been  wait- 
ing in  the  way  for  Him.  Now,  this  was  a  very  eager 
young  man.  Directly  he  saw  Jesus  he  ran  to  meet 
Him,  and  fell  down  on  his  knees  before  Him,  burst- 
ing out  at  once  with  the  great  question  that  he 
longed  to  have  answered :  "  Good  Teacher,  what 
shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit  eternal  life  ? " 

Jesus  said,  "  Why  do  you  call  me  good  ?  Nobody 
is  good  except  one,  that  is  God." 

Jesus  did  not  like  to  hear  him  using  the  word 
"  good  "  so  lightly.  To  be  really  good  is  the  great- 
est of  all  things  in  the  world.  But  it  is  the  hardest, 
too.  The  very  best  people  are  ready  to  say,  u  Oh, 
no ;  we  are  not  good.  We  are  all  sinners  in  the 
sight  of  God,  and  in  our  own  consciences."  Jesus 
was  really  good.  He  never  had  to  own  to  sin.  But 
the  young  man  could  not  see  the  heart  of  Jesus ; 
and  he  did  not  know  the  nature  of  Jesus,  that  He 
was  the  very  Son  of  God.      So  he  used  the  word 

286 


THE  VERY  EAGER  YOUNG  MAN       287 

"  good  "  too  lightly.  And  Jesus  would  not  receive 
it  in  that  way. 

Then  Jesus  went  on  to  speak  of  the  command- 
ments. Now  the  young  man  was  simple,  and  well- 
meaning,  and  free  from  vice. 

So  he  could  say  innocently,  "  Teacher,  all  these 
have  I  kept  from  my  youth." 

He  did  not  know  all  that  is  meant  even  by  those 
old  commandments  of  the  Jews.  Still,  he  had  not 
been  a  thief  and  a  murderer,  and  he  had  kept  to  the 
commandments  in  the  ordinary  way  of  a  respectable, 
well-behaved  young  man's  life. 

Jesus  was  pleased  with  his  openness  and  eager- 
ness, and  when  He  looked  into  his  earnest  young 
face,  He  loved  him.  This  was  just  the  sort  of  man 
He  delighted  to  have  for  a  disciple.  So  He  called 
him  to  follow  Him,  as  He  had  called  the  fishermen 
from  their  nets  a  long  while  before. 

But  it  was  harder  for  this  young  man  to  obey 
than  it  had  been  for  them.  They  were  poor,  hard- 
working toilers  of  the  sea ;  and  they  had  not  much 
to  leave  behind  them.  But  this  was  a  very  rich 
young  man. 

Jesus  must  have  found  it  painful  to  say  the  words 
that  would  search  him  out  to  the  bottom  of  his  heart : 
"  There  is  one  thing  you  are  wanting  in.  Go  and 
sell  whatever  you  have,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  you 
shall  have  treasure  in  heaven ;  and  come,  follow  me." 

What  an  answer  to  his  question  !  He  had  never 
expected  this.     When  he  heard  the  words  of  Jesus, 


288  JESUS   THE  KING 

all  the  brightness  went  out  of  his  face ;  his  counte- 
nance fell,  and  he  went  away  full  of  sorrow. 

Jesus  was  very  sad,  too,  and  as  He  looked  round 
on  His  disciples  He  said,  "  How  hard  is  it  for  those 
people  who  have  riches  to  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God !  " 

They  were  amazed  at  His  language.  But  He 
repeated  the  sorrowful  truth  in  a  stronger  way. 
"It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  a  needle's 
eye  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God." 

Still  more  astonished,  they  asked,  "  Who  then  can 
be  saved  ?  " 

Jesus  looked  round  on  them  as  He  answered, 
"  With  men  it  is  impossible,  but  not  with  God ; 
for  all  things  are  possible  with  God." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ZACCILEUS  AND  BARTIMiEUS 

Jesus  had  given  the  twelve  warning  several  times 
that  He  would  have  to  suffer  and  die.  He  saw  that 
His  enemies  were  growing  more  determined,  and 
that  His  end  was  drawing  near.  But  He  would 
not  try  to  escape  it ;  to  have  done  so  would  have 
been  to  have  deserted  His  great  task.  He  said 
once  that  it  would  not  do  for  a  prophet  to  perish 
out  of  Jerusalem.  And,  therefore,  He  set  His  face 
steadily  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem. 

On  the  way  He  came  to  the  city  of  Jericho,  down 
by  the  Jordan,  a  city  famous  for  its  trade  in  balsam 
—  the  "  balm  of  Gilead  "  —  a  very  busy  place. 

Now  there  was  at  Jericho  a  man  named  Zacchaeus. 
He  was  one  of  the  head  tax-gatherers,  and  he  had 
made  himself  rich  in  his  office.  This  man  wanted 
to  see  Jesus  out  of  curiosity,  because  He  was  famous, 
and  people  talked  a  great  deal  about  Him.  But  Zac- 
chasus  was  very  short,  and,  as  he  thought  he  would 
not  be  able  to  get  near  to  Jesus  because  of  the 
crowd,  he  was  afraid  he  would  miss  the  sight.  So 
he  climbed  up  into  a  sycamore  tree  by  the  wayside, 
and  sat  there  among  the  great  leaves  ready  for  the 
time  when  Jesus  would  pass  by. 

When  Jesus   came  to   the  place,  He  looked  up, 
and  called  him  by  name, 
u  289 


290  JESUS   THE  KING 

" Zacchaeus,"  He  said,  "make  haste,  and  come 
down  ;    for  to-day  I  must  stay  at  your  house." 

Zacchaeus  was  astonished  and  delighted.  He 
hurried  down  from  the  tree,  and  took  Jesus  home 
with  him. 

When  the  people  saw  it,  they  found  fault,  say- 
ing, "  He  has  gone  to  stay  with  a  man  that  is  a 
sinner." 

But  ZacchaBus  stood  up  and  said  to  Jesus,  "  Lord, 
half  of  my  goods  I  will  give  to  the  poor ;  and  if  I 
have  cheated  a  person  out  of  anything,  I  will  pay 
him  back  four  times  over." 

And  Jesus  said  to  him,  "  To-day  is  salvation  come 
to  this  house ;  since  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham. 
For  the  Son  of  Man  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost." 

Either  when  He  was  going  into  Jericho,  or  when 
He  was  going  out  after  staying  at  the  house  of 
Zacchseus  and  passing  through  the  city  —  and  we 
cannot  say  which,  because  two  of  the  Gospel 
accounts  say  it  was  one  way,  and  one  that  it  was 
the  other  —  as  Jesus  was  going  along  the  road  with 
His  disciples  and  a  great  number  of  other  people, 
a  blind  man  named  Bartimseus  was  sitting  by  the 
wayside  begging,  as  blind  men  in  the  East  are 
often  to  be  found  sitting  begging  in  the  present 
day. 

When  he  heard  that  it  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth  who 
was  coming  along,  he  began  to  cry  out,  "  Jesus,  thou 
son  of  David,  have  pity  on  me." 


ZACCH/EUS   AND   BARTIMiEUS  291 

This  title,  "  Son  of  David,"  was  very  startling,  for 
it  meant  the  Messiah,  the  expected  King  of  the 
Jews.  Ever  since  Peter's  confession  at  the  foot  of 
Hermon,  a  few  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  had  known 
that  He  was  the  Messiah,  and  no  doubt  a  great 
many  more  were  now  coming  to  suspect  it.  But 
He  had  always  told  His  friends  to  keep  this  quiet. 
Now  here  was  a  beggar  shouting  it  out,  and  that, 
too,  just  when  Jesus  was  going  up  to  Jerusalem,  the 
most  dangerous  of  all  places.  The  disciples  were 
alarmed,  and  they  tried  to  hush  the  man.  But  the 
more  they  scolded  him  the  louder  he  shouted,  and 
still  the  same  title — "Thou  Son  of  David." 

The  poor  fellow's  blundering  eagerness  did  not 
displease  Jesus.  He  was  quite  brave,  and  not  at 
all  afraid  for  Himself,  and  He  knew  that  now  at  the 
very  end  of  His  life  there  could  be  no  harm  in  it 
being  known  who  He  was.  So  He  stood  still  and 
said,  "Call  him." 

And  they  called  to  the  blind  man,  saying,  "Take 
heart,  get  up,  He  is  calling  you." 

At  that  he  flung  away  his  cloak,  sprang  up,  and 
came  to  Jesus. 

"  What  do  you  want  Me  to  do  to  you  ? "  said 
Jesus. 

"  Rabboni "  (Honoured  Teacher),  he  answered,  "I 
want  to  have  my  sight  again." 

"  Go,"  said  Jesus ;  "  your  faith  has  saved  you." 

And  immediately  he  got  his  sight  again ;  and  he 
followed  Jesus. 


IV 

The  Last  Week 

CHAPTER   I 

THE   TWO   SISTERS 

When  the  Jews  from  the  country  places  went  up 
to  Jerusalem  for  the  great  feasts,  as  there  were  so 
many  of  them  that  they  could  not  all  stay  in  the 
city,  some  would  lodge  in  the  villages  round  about. 
One  of  these  villages  was  Bethany,  about  two  miles 
from  Jerusalem,  a  little  on  the  further  side  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  Here  Jesus  used  to  stay  with  His 
disciples,  at  the  house  of  a  well-to-do  lady  named 
Martha. 

Martha  had  a  sister  named  Mary  ;  and  it  hap- 
pened once,  at  an  earlier  time  when  He  was  visiting 
them,  that  Mary  sat  at  His  feet  listening  to  His 
teaching,  while  Martha  was  busy  and  flustered  in 
making  great  preparations  for  the  meal.  So  she 
came  to  Jesus,  saying,  "  Lord,  do  you  not  care  that 
my  sister  has  left  me  to  serve  alone  ?  Tell  her  to 
help  me." 

But  Jesus  answered,  "  Martha,  Martha,  you  are 
anxious  and  troubled  about  many  things.  A  few 
things,  or  even  one,  would  be  enough.     For  Mary 

292 


THE   TWO   SISTERS  293 

has  chosen  the  good  part  which  shall  not  be  taken 
away  from  her." 

Martha  did  not  understand  Jesus.  He  did  not 
want  the  sisters  to  be  put  about  in  making  grand 
preparations  with  a  number  of  courses  at  dinner  to 
please  Him.  He  did  not  care  for  such  things  at  all. 
A  few  things  on  the  table,  or  even  only  one  simple 
dish,  would  quite  satisfy  Him.  He  would  much 
rather  the  sisters  took  their  work  quietly,  and  had 
time  for  talk  with  Him  about  what  He  really  cared 
for,  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  That  was  what  Mary 
had  chosen. 

During  His  last  visit  to  Jerusalem,  while  Jesus 
was  again  staying  in  Bethany,  it  happened  that  He 
was  sitting  at  table  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper 
—  perhaps  Simon  was  Martha's  husband  —  when  a 
woman  came  with  a  flask  of  very  costly  sweet- 
scented  ointment,  and  broke  the  flask,  and  poured 
the  ointment  over  His  head. 

Some  of  the  people  present  there  were  vexed  and 
angry  at  this,  and  they  said  to  themselves,  "  What 
is  the  use  of  this  waste  of  the  ointment?  For  it 
might  have  been  sold  for  more  than  three  hundred 
shillings,  and  given  to  the  poor." 

But  Jesus  said,  "Let  her  alone.  She  has  done 
what  she  could  ;  she  has  anointed  My  body  before- 
hand for  the  burying  of  it."  Then  he  promised 
that  wherever  the  Gospel  was  preached  throughout 
the  whole  world,  what  this  woman  had  done  should 
be  spoken  of  in  memory  of  her. 


294  THE  LAST  WEEK 

In  the  Gospel  of  John  we  read  that  the  woman 
who  made  this  gift  of  love  to  Jesus  was  Martha's 
sister  Mary,  and  that  the  complaint  about  the  waste 
was  made  by  Judas. 

It  was  just  after  this  that  Judas,  who  was  one  of 
the  twelve,  went  to  the  chief  priests  and  offered  to 
give  Jesus  up  to  them,  asking  what  they  would  pay 
him  for  doing  so.  They  were  delighted,  and  they 
gave  him  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  like  thirty  of  our 
half-dollars,  only  worth  more,  just  the  price  of  a 
slave.  Judas  agreed  to  sell  his  Master  for  the  price 
of  a  slave!  He  loved  money,  and  he  was  vexed 
with  Jesus  for  not  being  the  sort  of  Christ  he  ex- 
pected, a  great  conquering  king.  So  the  wicked 
man  made  his  bargain,  and  from  this  time  he  looked 
about  for  a  chance  of  giving  Jesus  up  to  His 
enemies. 


CHAPTER   II 

PALM   SUNDAY 

Jesus  had  no  longer  any  need  to  keep  secret  the 
truth  that  He  was  the  Christ.  By  this  time  He  had 
too  many  enemies  for  His  friends  to  think  of  mak- 
ing Him  a  leader  to  fight  against  the  Romans. 
Now,  at  last,  He  was  ready  to  let  them  honour  Him 
in  a  simple  rustic  way  as  their  King. 

He  told  two  of  His  disciples  to  go  to  a  village  near 
Bethany.  There  they  would  find  an  ass's  colt  tied 
up.  If  anybody  questioned  them,  they  were  to  say, 
"  The  Lord  has  need  of  him."  They  found  the  colt 
tied  at  a  door  by  a  street-corner,  and,  as  they  began 
to  loose  him,  some  of  the  people  standing  by  asked 
them  what  they  were  about,  so  they  answered  as 
Jesus  had  told  them,  and  the  people  let  them  go. 

They  brought  the  colt  to  Jesus.  Then  they  put 
some  of  their  cloaks  on  it,  and  Jesus  sat  on  it. 

As  He  went,  some  of  the  people  spread  their 
cloaks  on  the  road  for  Him  to  ride  over,  and  others 
tore  down  leafy  boughs  from  trees  in  the  fields  by 
the  wayside  and  spread  them  over  the  road.  They 
were  very  excited.  Most  of  them  were  pilgrims 
from  Galilee  who  had  come  up  to  the  feast  of  the 
Passover.     They  had  lost  sight  of   Him  for  many 

295 


296  THE  LAST  WEEK 

months,  while  He  was  living  quietly  in  out-of-the- 
way  places,  till  He  had  fallen  in  with  the  troups  of 
travellers  on  the  high-road  to  Jerusalem.  Even 
those  who  had  left  Him  because  of  His  hard  sayings 
were  glad,  indeed,  to  have  Him  with  them  once 
more,  especially  as  He  let  them  honour  Him  in  a 
simple  country  way  as  a  king.  He  had  never 
allowed  anything  of  the  kind  in  the  old  days,  and  no 
doubt  that  had  been  one  reason  why  they  had  grown 
tired  of  Him. 

Those  who  went  first,  and  those  who  followed 
after  —  both  parts  of  this  procession  of  villagers  — 
shouted  "  Hosanna  "  —  a  word  which  means  almost 
the  same  as  "  God  save  the  king." 

Some  of  the  Pharisees  were  vexed,  and  they  said 
to  Him,  "Teacher,  scold  your  disciples." 

But  Jesus  answered,  "  I  tell  you  if  these  people 
are  still,  the  very  stones  will  cry  out." 

So  they  went  up  the  slope  of  the  Mount  of  Olives 
from  the  further  side.  There  is  a  point  at  which 
the  road  turns  the  corner  of  a  rock.  Just  as  you 
get  round  the  corner  the  whole  city  suddenly  comes 
into  view.  When  Jesus  reached  this  spot  and  all 
the  city  lay  spread  out  before  Him  in  a  moment,  He 
burst  into  tears.  He  was  going  to  die  there.  But 
it  was  no  thought  of  Himself  that  troubled  Him. 
He  was  thinking  how  the  people  had  rejected  Him, 
and  how  their  ruin  was  coming  on  them,  and  He 
wept  for  Jerusalem,  saying,  "  Oh,  that  thou  hadst 
known  in  this  day,  even  thou,  the  things  that  belong 


PALM   SUNDAY  297 

to  thy  peace!  But  now  they  are  hid  from  thine 
eyes." 

And  then  He  seemed  to  see  the  terrible  spectacle 
of  the  siege  of  the  city  by  its  enemies — the  armies 
camped  round  it,  and  its  fall,  till  not  one  stone  was 
left  on  another. 

So  His  triumph  was  full  of  sorrow,  not  because 
He  was  riding  to  His  death,  though  this  was  the 
case,  but  because  His  heart  was  breaking  for  the  sin 
and  ruin  of  His  people. 


CHAPTER   III 

JESUS  IN  THE  TEMPLE 

When  Jesus  had  come  into  Jerusalem  riding  on 
the  ass's  colt  with  His  friends  about  Him  shouting 
their  Hosannas,  He  first  went  to  the  Temple,  and 
looked  round  on  all  that  was  to  be  seen  there.  The 
sight  grieved  and  angered  Him.  But  He  did  not 
say  anything  at  the  time,  and  when  it  was  evening 
He  went  back  to  Bethany.  The  next  day  He  went 
up  to  the  Temple  again,  and  then  He  did  a  daring 
thing. 

Every  Jew  was  expected  to  give  a  small  amount 
of  money  for  the  expenses  of  the  Temple,  and  this 
had  to  be  paid  in  Jewish  coins.  So  Jews  who 
came  from  foreign  countries  had  to  change  their 
money.  Jesus  found  the  money-changers  at  their 
business  in  the  Temple  itself.  He  also  saw  men 
there  selling  doves  for  sacrifices.  The  high  priest 
used  to  keep  the  doves  at  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and 
he  made  a  good  profit  out  of  this  sale.  He  would 
be  very  angry  if  anybody  interfered  with  it. 

Most  likely  these  things  were  being  done  in  the 
outer  court  of  the  Temple ;  this  was  called  "  The 
Court  of  the  Gentiles  "  —  the  people  who  were  not 
Jews.  The  noise  of  the  traffic  would  sadly  distract 
these  people  at  their  prayers.     The  Jews  did  not 

298 


JESUS   IN  THE  TEMPLE  299 

care  for  that ;  they  despised  the  Gentiles,  and  they 
had  their  own  more  quiet  part  farther  in  the  Temple. 
But  Jesus  was  angry  at  the  sight.  He  drove  out 
the  people  who  were  buying  and  selling  in  the  Tem- 
ple, upset  the  tables  of  the  money-changers,  sending 
their  money  rolling  over  the  pavement,  turned  over 
the  seats  of  the  dove-sellers,  and  sent  back  the  men 
who  were  walking  through  the  Temple,  carrying 
their  tools  and  their  parcels  as  though  it  were  a  com- 
mon street  of  the  city  or  a  mere  market-place. 

"Is  it  not  written,"  He  said,  "My  house  shall  be 
called  a  house  of  prayer  for  all  the  nations  ?  but  you 
have  made  it  a  den  of  robbers." 

This  enraged  the  chief  priests,  and  they  would 
have  liked  to  have  killed  Him  on  the  spot.  But 
they  were  afraid  of  the  people,  who  admired  His 
teaching,  and  who  had  no  love  for  the  proud,  aristo- 
cratic priests. 

Still,  when  they  saw  Him  again,  they  asked  Him 
what  right  He  had  to  do  these  things.  It  was  a 
very  natural  question.  But  as  He  knew  they  were 
only  on  the  lookout  for  a  chance  to  catch  Him,  He 
said  He  would  give  them  His  answer  if  they  would 
first  answer  a  question  He  would  put  to  them  — 
"  The  baptism  of  John  —  was  it  from  heaven  or 
from  men?" 

This  was  a  clever  question.  They  did  not  know 
what  to  answer.  If  they  said  from  heaven,  Jesus 
would  ask,  "  Why,  then,  did  you  not  believe  him  ?  " 
Yet  they  dared  not  say  from  men,  for  fear  of  the 


300  THE  LAST   WEEK 

people  ;  because  all  the  people  held  John  to  be  a 
prophet. 

So  they  said,  "  We  do  not  know." 

And  Jesus  said,  "  Neither  do  I  tell  you  by  what 
right  I  do  these  things." 

Another  time  when  He  was  up  at  the  Temple, 
He  sat  down  in  the  outer  court  near  a  great  chest, 
which  had  thirteen  trumpet-shaped  openings  for  the 
people  to  drop  their  offerings  into.  A  number  of 
rich  people  came  along,  and  managed  to  let  it  be 
seen  that  they  were  putting  in  a  good  deal  of  money. 
Then  came  a  poor  widow  ;  and  she  only  put  in  two 
mites,  which  make  up  a  farthing. 

When  He  saw  it  Jesus  called  His  disciples,  and 
said  to  them,  M I  tell  you  truly  this  poor  widow  put 
in  more  than  all  the  rest ;  for  they  gave  out  of  their 
abundance  ;  but  she  gave  out  of  her  want,  all  she 
had,  all  her  living." 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  LORD'S  SUPPER 

Jesus  and  His  disciples  had  come  up  to  Jerusalem 
to  keep  the  Feast  of  the  Passover.  When  the  time 
came  they  asked  Him,  "Where  do  you  wish  us  to 
go  and  make  ready  for  you  to  eat  the  Passover  ?  " 

He  sent  off  two  of  His  disciples  for  this  work, 
saying  to  them,  "  Go  into  the  city  till  you  meet  a 
man  carrying  a  pitcher  of  water  "  —  a  very  unusual 
thing,  for  it  is  always  the  women  who  carry  water 
in  the  East — "follow  him,  and  wherever  he  enters 
say,  •  The  Teacher  says,  Where  is  My  dining-room, 
where  I  am  to  eat  the  Passover  with  My  disciples  ? ' ' 

This  had  to  be  done  secretly,  because  the  enemies 
of  Jesus  had  spies  about  on  the  watch  to  catch  Him, 
and  He  very  much  wanted  to  be  able  to  take  this 
last  supper  with  His  disciples  before  His  death, 
which  He  knew  must  be  quite  near  now. 

The  two  disciples  set  off  and  found  the  man  with 
the  pitcher.  They  followed  him,  and  said  what 
Jesus  had  told  them,  and  the  man  of  the  house  let 
them  in.  Inside  they  saw  the  cushions  spread  out 
on  the  seats  all  ready  for  the  feast.  Then  they 
went  and  got  the  lamb  and  the  herbs  and  fruit 
and  bread  that  were  wanted  for  the  proper  kind 
of  meal  eaten  on  Passover  night. 

301 


J 
302  THE  LAST  WEEK 

In  the  evening  Jesus  came  with  the  twelve,  and 
they  sat  down  to  eat  the  lamb.  Next  came  a  dish 
called  Charosheth,  a  mixture  of  figs,  dates,  and 
almonds,  with  vinegar.  Between  each  course  a 
cup  of  light  wine  mixed  with  water  went  round. 
While  they  were  eating,  Jesus  said,  "  Truly,  I  tell 
you,  one  of  you  shall  betray  Me ;  yes,  one  that  is 
eating  with  Me." 

This  greatly  distressed  them,  and  they  said  to 
Him,  one  by  one,  "Is  it  I?" 

"  It  is  one  of  the  twelve,"  said  Jesus.  "  It  is  he 
who  is  dipping  with  Me  in  the  dish." 

Now  at  the  Passover  it  was  usual  for  each  per- 
son to  take  a  bunch  of  bitter  herbs  and  dip  it 
into  the  common  dish  of  the  fruit  and  eat  it.  Just 
when  Jesus  was  dipping  into  this  dish,  Judas 
dipped  too.  So  Judas  was  pointed  out  as  the 
traitor. 

While  they  were  eating,  Jesus  took  some  bread. 
It  had  been  made  without  yeast  to  raise  it,  so  that 
it  was  hard  and  flat  like  a  biscuit.  When  He  had 
given  thanks  He  broke  it,  and  gave  it  to  His  dis- 
ciples, saying,  "  Take,  eat ;  this  is  My  body,  which 
is  given  for  you." 

After  supper  He  took  the  cup,  and  when  He 
had  given  thanks  for  that  too,  He  gave  it  to  them, 
saying,  "Drink  ye  all  of  it.  This  cup  is  the  new 
covenant  in  My  blood  which  is  shed  for  many  for 
the  forgiveness  of  sins.  This  do,  as  often  as  you 
do  it,  in  remembrance  of  Me." 


THE  lord's  supper  303 

This  was  the  beginning  of  what  we  call  the 
Lord's  Supper.  It  is  a  feast  which  Jesus  Christ 
Himself  gave  to  His  people.  It  comes  down  to 
us  from  Him.  Every  time  it  is  truly  taken  now 
Jesus  is  there,  giving  it  to  His  people,  and  offer- 
ing His  love  and  His  saving  power. 


CHAPTER  V 

IN  THE   GARDEN 

At  the  Passover  it  was  usual  to  sing  six  psalms 
—  from  the  113th  to  the  118th.  Two  were  sung 
during  the  feast;  the  others  at  the  close.  When 
Jesus  had  sung  these  last  psalms  with  His  disci- 
ples, He  left  the  house  with  them,  and  took  them 
through  the  dark,  narrow  streets  to  the  gate  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  city.  They  went  out  of 
this  gate,  and  down  the  stony  road  to  the  ravine 
of  the  Kidron.  When  they  had  crossed,  they 
found  themselves  on  the  slope  of  the  Mount  of 
Olives. 

Here  was  a  place  called  Gethsemane.  The  word 
means  an  olive-press.  Perhaps  men  used  to  squeeze 
the  oil  out  of  the  olives  that  grew  on  the  side  of 
the  hill  at  this  place.  Jesus  often  came  here  at 
night,  because  it  was  a  quiet  place  for  thinking 
and  praying,  and  yet  not  far  from  the  city,  and 
near  the  road  back  to  Bethany. 

On  the  way  Jesus  became  very  sad,  and  He  told 
His  disciples  that  they  were  all  going  to  leave 
Him.  They  would  not  hear  of  it ;  and  Peter  said, 
"Though  all  the  others  may,  I  will  not." 

"Truly,  I  tell  you,"  said  Jesus,  "that  to-day, 
even  to-night,  before  the  cock  crows  twice  you 
will  deny  Me  thrice." 


IN  THE  GARDEN  305 

But  Peter  was  quite  passionate  in  declaring  he 
would  not  do  such  a  thing. 

"If  I  must  die  with  you,"  he  said,  "I  will  not 
deny  you."     So  they  all  said. 

When  they  had  reached  Cethsemane,  He  said  to 
His  disciples,  "Sit  here  while  I  pray." 

Then  He  took  with  Him  Peter,  and  James,  and 
John.  As  they  were  going  on  a  little  further,  He 
became  quite  amazed  and  distressed,  and  He  said 
to  His  three  friends,  "  My  soul  is  most  sorrowful, 
even  to  death  ;  stay  here  and  watch."  Then  He 
went  forward  a  little,  and  as  He  went  He  fell  down 
more  than  once.  He  was  so  faint,  and  weary,  and 
sick  at  heart.  And  He  prayed  that  if  it  were 
possible  the  hour  might  pass  from  Him,  and  said, 
"Abba,  Father,  all  things  are  possible  with  Thee; 
take  this  cup  away  from  Me.  Still,  not  what  I 
will,  but  what  Thou  wilt." 

When  He  came  back  to  His  three  friends,  He 
found  them  asleep. 

"  Simon,"  He  said,  sadly,  "  could  you  not  watch 
with  Me  one  hour?  Watch  and  pray,  that  you 
may  not  enter  into  temptation." 

Then  He  went  away  again,  and  prayed  in  the 
same  words.  Three  times  he  did  so.  He  was  in 
a  great  agony.  The  sweat  came  from  Him  like 
drops  of  blood.  The  last  time  He  came  back  and 
found  them  sleeping  again,  He  said,  "  Sleep  on 
now,  and  take  your  rest." 

But  the  next  moment  there  was  a  flash  of  torches 


306  THE  LAST  WEEK 

and  the  sound  of  many  people.  It  was  the  coming 
of  Judas  and  the  soldiers. 

"  Up  !  "  said  Jesus,  "  we  must  be  going.  See  !  he 
who  is  going  to  betray  Me  is  at  hand." 

While  He  was  speaking  Judas  came  up,  and 
with  him  a  number  of  men  armed  with  swords  and 
clubs. 

Judas  went  straight  to  Jesus,  and  kissed  Him 
with  a  great  show  of  love.  It  was  his  sign  to  the 
soldiers,  that  they  might  know  which  was  Jesus. 
Then  they  seized  Him,  and  His  disciples  all  left 
Him  and  ran  for  their  lives. 


CHAPTER  VI 

,  THE  JEWISH  TRIAL 

Jesus  was  now  a  prisoner  in  charge  of  the  Temple 
guard.  They  led  Him  back  to  the  city,  and  took 
Him  to  the  house  of  the  high  priest,  Caiaphas,  who 
was  the  chief  authority  among  the  Jews.  Although 
it  was  the  middle  of  the  night,  the  high  priest  was 
up  waiting  for  Jesus,  and  he  had  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal Jews  with  him.  They  were  seated  in  a  semi- 
circle on  cushions  spread  round  the  floor,  turbans 
on  their  heads,  with  Caiaphas  in  the  middle. 
When  Jesus  was  brought  in,  they  made  Him  stand 
before  them,  though  it  was  usual  to  allow  prisoners 
to  sit. 

Several  witnesses  had  been  got  together  by  these 
very  Jews  who  were  to  be  the  judges  of  Jesus. 
That  was  most  unfair.  The  witnesses  came  and 
swore  false  things  about  Jesus,  and  nobody  could 
believe  them.  Some  came  and  swore  that  Jesus 
had  threatened  to  pull  down  the  Temple  and  build 
it  again  in  three  days.  But  they  contradicted  one 
another. 

Then  Caiaphas  sprang  up  in  a  rage,  and  stood 
face  to  face  with  Jesus,  glaring  at  Him.  All  the 
witnesses  had  broken  down.  The  only  thing  was 
to  force  the  prisoner  to  say  something  that  would 

307 


308  THE  LAST   WEEK 

make  Him  condemn  Himself.  Caiaphas  com- 
manded Him  to  say  on  oath  whether  He  was  the 
Christ. 

Jesus  answered,  "I  am;  and  you  shall  see  the 
Son  of  man  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  power,  and 
coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven." 

At  this  the  high  priest  tore  his  clothes,  as  a  sign 
that  he  was  shocked  to  hear  Jesus  using  such 
dreadful  words.  "  What  further  need  have  we  of 
witnesses  ?  "  he  cried.  "  You  have  heard  the  blas- 
phemy ;  what  do  you  think  ?  "  They  said  He  was 
worthy  of  death.  And  some  of  these  great  gentle- 
men of  Jerusalem  spat  on  Him,  and  cuffed  Him, 
and  jeered  at  Him. 

While  this  was  going  on  Peter,  who  had  followed 
Jesus  at  a  distance,  was  standing  by  a  fire  in  the 
outer  court,  warming  himself,  for  it  is  very  cold  at 
night  in  the  spring  up  in  Jerusalem  among  the 
mountains.  One  of  the  maid-servants  of  the  high 
priest,  passing  by,  looked  at  him,  and  said,  "You 
were  with  the  Nazarene  —  Jesus  ?  " 

Peter  denied.  He  said  he  did  not  know  what 
she  meant.  Then  he  went  out  to  the  porch;  and 
a  cock  crew.  The  maid  would  not  give  in.  She 
began  gossiping  with  the  idlers  standing  about, 
saying,  "This  is  one  of  them."  Peter  denied  it  a 
second  time.  Now  he  was  being  watched,  and  he 
knew  it.  This  frightened  him  very  much.  When 
some  of  them  came  and  said,  "  Certainly  you  are 
one  of  them  ;  you  are  a  Galilean"  —  they  knew  him 


THE  JEWISH  TRIAL  309 

by  his  speech  —  Peter  began  to  curse  and  swear, 
saying,  u  I  do  not  know  this  man  of  whom  you  are 
speaking."  Then  the  cock  crew  again.  At  that 
moment  the  soldiers  were  leading  Jesus  away  after 
His  trial.  As  He  passed  He  gave  Peter  one  look. 
It  was  enough.  Peter  remembered  what  Jesus  had 
said  about  the  cock  crowing,  and  he  rushed  out  and 
burst  into  an  agony  of  tears.  It  had  all  come  true! 
He  had  denied  his  Lord! 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE   ROMAN  TRIAL 

Very  early  in  the  morning  a  meeting  of  the  whole 
Jewish  council  was  got  together,  and  this  meeting 
ordered  Jesus  to  be  taken  to  the  Roman  Governor, 
Pontius  Pilate,  because  the  Jews  were  so  much 
under  the  Romans  that  they  had  no  right  to  put 
anybody  to  death.  Pilate  questioned  Jesus  whether 
he  was  the  King  of  the  Jews,  and  Jesus  said  He 
was.  But  when  the  chief  priests  brought  a  num- 
ber of  things  against  Him  He  would  not  answer  a 
word.  Pilate  wondered  at  this;  but  he  did  not 
find  that  Jesus  was  guilty  of  any  crime.  He  did 
not  know  what  to  do.  But  as  Jesus  had  come  from 
Galilee  he  sent  him  to  Herod,  the  ruler  of  that  part 
of  the  country,  who  happened  to  be  staying  in  Jeru- 
salem at  the  time.  Herod  was  delighted.  He 
thought  this  was  a  compliment  to  him ;  and  he  had 
long  wanted  to  see  Jesus  work  a  miracle.  But 
Jesus  would  do  nothing  of  the  kind  for  a  show  to 
amuse  this  bad  king,  the  murderer  of  John  the 
Baptist.  And  when  Herod  questioned  Him  He 
was  silent.  Then  Herod  began  to  mock  Him,  put- 
ting one  of  his  white  cloaks  on  Him,  as  though  He 
were  a  king,  for  Jewish  kings  wore  white  robes. 

310 


^W^W; 


hMI 


The  Spina  Christi 
311 


iSx  <° 


THE  ROMAN  TRIAL  313 

Dressed  up  in  this  style,  He  was  sent  back  to 
Pilate. 

At  the  feast  Pilate  used  to  let  off  one  prisoner, 
whoever  it  might  be  the  Jews  asked  for.  Now 
there  was  a  brigand  named  Barabbas  lying  bound 
in  the  dungeon.  Pilate  said,  "  Would  you  like  me 
to  let  off  the  King  of  the  Jews  ?  " 

They  shouted  back,  "  Not  this  man,  but  Barabbas ! " 

"What  then  shall  I  do  to  Him  whom  you  call 
the  King  of  the  Jews?" 

"  Crucify  Him  !  " 

"  Why  ?     What  crime  has  He  committed  ?  " 

"  Crucify  Him  —  crucify  Him  !  "  That  was  all 
the  answer  he  could  get  from  them.  And  they 
shouted  it  again  and  again,  louder  and  louder. 
The  mob  took  up  the  cry  and  shouted  it  through 
the  streets  —  "  Crucify  Him  !  Crucify  Him  !  " 
Pilate  was  frightened.  He  would  like  to  have  let 
off  Jesus,  for  he  could  see  quite  clearly  that  there 
was  nothing  against  Him.  But  he  was  afraid  of 
the  Jews. 

First  he  gave  Jesus  up  to  be  scourged.  That 
was  a  most  cruel  torture.  The  whip  was  loaded 
with  lead  or  bones  to  bruise  and  tear  the  flesh  of 
the  victim,  who  was  stripped  to  the  waist  and 
bound  to  a  post  while  the  soldiers  lashed  Him  on 
the  back,  and  even  on  the  head  and  face.  Some- 
times it  would  kill  a  man  on  the  spot.  After  this 
fearful  torture  the  soldiers  made  sport  with  their 
prisoner.     They  flung  a  soldier's  red  cloak  on  Him, 


314  THE  LAST   WEEK 

or  perhaps  it  was  one  of  Pilate's  old  cast-off  gar- 
ments ;  they  gathered  some  of  the  thorn  twigs  that 
grow  on  bushes  just  outside  the  walls  of  Jerusalem, 
and  twisted  them  into  a  mock  garland  for  His 
head;  and  they  put  a  reed  in  His  hands,  striking 
Him  on  the  head  with  it  first,  and  spitting  on  Him. 
Then  they  came  before  Him  pretending  that  He 
was  a  king,  and  bowing  to  Him  and  mocking  Him. 
Jesus  took  it  all  in  silence.  When  the  soldiers 
were  tired  of  their  sport,  they  took  off  the  purple 
cloak  and  put  on  Him  His  own  clothes.  It  is 
almost  too  dreadful  to  write  about  these  things. 
Yet  it  is  good  to  know  that  Jesus  never  broke 
down  under  the  cruel  pain,  nor  lost  His  temper 
at  the  insults  and  mockery.  He  bore  all  with 
perfect  patience  and  calmness.  It  was  the  cup  His 
Father  gave  Him  to  drink. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  CRUCIFIXION 

The  Jews'  way  of  killing  criminals  was  by 
stoning ;  the  Roman  way  for  their  own  people  was 
beheading  with  the  sword.  But  slaves  and  con- 
quered people  were  sometimes  killed  with  the  dread- 
ful death  called  crucifixion.  Pilate  ordered  Jesus 
to  be  punished  with  the  slave's  death. 

It  was  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  when 
they  led  Jesus  out  to  be  crucified.  This  was  to  be 
done  outside  the  city,  at  a  place  called  "  The  skull." 
They  put  the  cross  on  His  back  for  Him  to  carry. 
But  after  His  agony  in  the  garden  and  the  weary 
trials,  the  cruel  scourging  and  the  mockery,  Jesus 
was  not  able  to  bear  it  all  the  way ;  and  as  they 
met  a  man  named  Simon,  of  Cyrene,  North  Africa, 
coming  in  from  his  work  in  the  field,  they  made 
him  carry  the  cross. 

They  fastened  Jesus  to  the  cross  with  nails 
through  His  hands  and  His  feet.  There  was  a 
wooden  peg  for  Him  to  sit  on  when  the  cross  was 
raised  up.  Over  His  head  they  put  up  this  title 
which  Pilate  had  ordered  —  "  The  King  of  the  Jews." 

The  nailing  and  lifting  must  have  been  terrible 
to  bear.  But  all  Jesus  said  was,  "  Father,  forgive 
them ;  for  they  do  not  know  what  they  are  doing." 

315 


316  THE  LAST   WEEK 

The  soldiers  Scat  down  by  the  cross  to  watch. 
While  they  were  there  they  took  out  their  dice 
and  threw  them  to  divide  the  clothes  of  Jesus 
among  them.  The  people  who  went  by  along  the 
road  mocked  at  Him.  So  did  the  chief  priests, 
saying,  "  He  saved  others,  Himself  He  cannot 
save." 

There  were  two  robbers  crucified  with  Jesus; 
one  on  His  right  hand,  and  one  on  His  left.  Even 
these  poor  fellow-sufferers  mocked  Him.  But  later 
on  one  of  them  said  to  Him,  "  Remember  me  when 
You  come  in  Your  kingdom."  And  Jesus  answered, 
"  To-day  you  shall  be  with  Me  in  Paradise." 

In  the  middle  of  the  day  a  great  darkness  came 
over  the  city,  lasting  for  three  hours,  till  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  At  that  time  Jesus 
cried  out,  "  Eloi,  Eloi,  lama  sabachthanif '"  which 
means,  "  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  for- 
saken Me?" 

Some  of  the  people  thought  He  was  calling  for 
Elijah.  Then  somebody  got  a  sponge,  and,  filling 
it  with  sour  wine,  put  it  on  a  stick,  and  held  it  up 
to  His  lips.  They  tried  to  stop  the  man,  but  he 
cried,  "  Let  me  do  it :  let  us  see  if  Elijah  will  come 
to  Him."  It  was  the  one  little  act  of  kindness 
that  was  shown  to  Him  on  the  cross.  The  end  was 
very  near  now.  Soon  after  this  Jesus  was  heard 
praying,  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commit  My 
spirit."  Then  He  cried  out  very  loudly,  and  His 
head  fell  forward  on  His  breast.     Jesus  was  dead. 


Joseph  of  Arimath^a's  Tomb 
317 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  319 

When  they  took  Him  down  from  the  cross, 
a  man  named  Joseph  of  Arimathaea,  one  of  the 
principal  Jews,  went  to  Pilate  and  begged  the  body 
of  Jesus.  Pilate  let  him  have  it,  and  Joseph  had 
it  laid  in  a  new  tomb,  and  a  great  stone  rolled  in 
front.  The  Women  who  had  come  with  Jesus  from 
Galilee  had  watched  all  these  terrible  things  from 
a  distance,  and  now  they  noticed  the  tomb  where 
His  body  was  laid. 


V 
The  Risen  Christ 


chapter  I 

THE  EMPTY  TOMB 

Jesus  had  been  crucified  on  a  Friday,  and  buried 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day.  His  friends  did 
not  like  to  do  anything  on  the  next  day,  because 
that  was  the  Jews'  Sabbath.  But  very  early  on 
Sunday  morning,  before  it  was  quite  light,  three  or 
four  women  set  out  for  the  tomb  where  the  body  of 
Jesus  had  been  laid.  They  were  Mary  Magdalene, 
Mary  the  mother  of  James,  and  Salome,  the  mother 
of  John  and  the  other  James,  and  perhaps  some 
others.  On  their  way  they  were  wondering  who 
would  roll  away  the  stone  for  them,  for  it  was  very 
heavy.  But  when  they  reached  the  tomb  they 
found  that  the  stone  had  been  rolled  away.  The 
grave,  which  was  a  cave  in  the  hillside,  was  open. 
They  went  in,  and  were  startled  to  see  some  one 
there  —  a  young  man,  he  seemed  to  be,  dressed  in  a 
white  robe,  and  sitting  on  the  ground  at  the  right- 
hand  side  of  the  tomb.  He  saw  how  scared  they 
were,  and  he  said  to  them,  "  Do  not  be  frightened. 

320 


THE   EMPTY  TOMB  321 

You  are  looking  for  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  has  been 
crucified.  He  has  been  raised  up.  He  is  not  here. 
Look  at  the  place  where  they  laid  Him.  And  go 
quickly,  and  tell  His  disciples  and  Peter  that  He  is 
going  before  you  into  Galilee.  There  you  will  see 
Him,  as  He  told  you." 

When  they  came  out  of  the  tomb,  they  were 
trembling  with  excitement  and  greatly  astonished  — 
full  of  fear,  and  yet  full  of  joy,  too.  They  really 
did  not  know  what  to  make  of  it;  and  they  hurried 
back  to  the  city  to  tell  the  other  disciples  what  they 
had  seen  and  heard.  But  the  tale  they  told  seemed 
to  the  disciples  mere  idle  talk.  They  could  not  get 
them  to  believe  it. 

If  this  had  been  all,  it  might  have  been  thought 
an  idle  tale;  but  a  greater  wonder  happened  soon 
after.  Jesus  was  seen  again  several  times.  He  ap- 
peared to  Peter,  then  to  the  twelve,  then  to  five 
hundred  of  His  followers  at  once.  Then  He  ap- 
peared to  James,  then  to  all  the  Apostles,  and  last 
of  all,  much  later,  to  Paul.  All  these  six  appear- 
ances of  Jesus  after  His  death  were  known  to  Paul. 
They  are  quite  enough  to  show  that  it  is  not  an  idle 
tale  to  say  that  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead.  So  we 
may  be  sure  that  He  was  seen  alive  again  after  death 
several  times,  by  a  number  of  His  disciples.  And 
we  to-day  do  not  worship  a  dead  Christ.  He  never 
died  again.  He  is  living  now  as  truly  as  when  He 
appeared  to  His  friends. 

The  coming  again  of  Jesus  to  them  quite  changed 


322  THE  RISEN  CHRIST 

His  disciples.  When  they  saw  Him  seized  by  His 
enemies,  tortured,  insulted,  crucified,  killed,  buried, 
it  seemed  as  though  this  were  the  end  of  all  their 
hopes.  They  only  met  to  weep  and  mourn  in  misery 
and  despair.  But  after  they  had  seen  Him  again, 
they  were  like  new  men,  full  of  joy  and  hope  and 
courage.  It  was  the  rising  of  Jesus  from  the 
dead  that  made  such  a  change  in  them;  and  it  is 
because  He  rose  from  the  jdead  and  is  living  to-day, 
that  we  have  reason  to  trust  Him,  and  live  in  the 
joy  of  His  unseen  presence. 


CHAPTER  II 

BMMAUS 

We  read  of  oilier  appearances  of  Jesus  after  He 
had  risen  from  the  dead,  besides  the  six  that  were 
known  to  Paul.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  stories 
is  that  which  tells  of  the  walk  to  Emmaus. 

On  Easter  Day,  the  very  day  on  which  Jesus  had 
been  raised  up  from  the  dead,  two  of  His  disciples 
were  walking  together  from  Jerusalem  to  a  little 
village  out  in  the  country,  named  Emmaus.  As 
they  went  they  talked  over  the  dreadful  things  that 
had  happened  on  the  last  Friday.  While  they  were 
talking  Jesus  drew  near,  and  walked  with  them,  but 
they  did  not  know  it  was  Jesus.  He  asked  them 
what  they  were  talking  about.  They  hardly  liked 
to  tell  a  stranger,  and  they  stood  still,  looking  sad, 
till  one  of  them,  whose  name  was  Cleopas,  said,  "  Are 
you  only  a  visitor  to  Jerusalem,  and  yet  do  not  you 
know  the  things  that  have  happened  there  in  these 
days?" 

"  What  things  ?  " 

"  The  things  about  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  was  a 
prophet  mighty  in  deed  and  word  before  God  and  all 
the  people  —  how  the  chief  priests  and  our  rulers 
gave  Him  up  to  be  condemned  to  death,  and  crucified 
Him.  But  we  were  hoping  that  it  was  He  who  was 
to  redeem  Israel." 

323 


324  THE  RISEN   CHRIST 

They  told  Him  that  it  was  the  third  day  since 
these  things  had  happened,  and  they  went  on  to 
describe  how  some  women  of  their  company  had 
said  they  had  found  the  tomb  empty,  and  had  seen 
a  vision  of  angels,  who  said  that  He  was  alive. 
They  told  Him,  too,  that  some  of  them  had  gone  to 
the  tomb  and  found  it,  as  the  women  said,  empty  ; 
but  they  had  not  seen  Jesus. 

"O  foolish  men,"  said  Jesus,  "how  slow  you  are 
to  believe  what  the  prophets  have  said."  And  He 
went  on  to  show  them  from  the  prophets  how  these 
things  must  be. 

When  they  came  to  the  village  where  they  were 
going,  He  walked  on  as  though  He  wanted  to  go 
further.  But  they  made  Him  stay,  saying,  "  Abide 
with  us,  for  it  is  toward  evening,  and  the  day  is  far 
spent." 

So  He  went  in  to  stay  with  them.  When  they 
sat  down  to  supper,  He  took  a  loaf  and  gave  thanks, 
and  broke  it  just  in  His  old  way.  Then  they  saw 
it  was  Jesus.  The  next  moment  He  vanished  out 
of  their  sight.  And  they  said  to  one  another,  "  Was 
not  our  heart  burning  within  us  while  He  was  talk- 
ing with  us  on  the  way  ?  " 

Then  they  got  up  at  once  and  hurried  back  to 
Jerusalem  to  tell  the  other  disciples.  But  when 
they  met  the  eleven  apostles  they  found  that  they 
too  knew  that  Jesus  had  been  raised  up  from  the 
dead,  for  the  first  thing  they  said  was,  *  The  Lord 
has  been  raised  up  indeed  !  and  He  has  appeared  to 


EMMAUS  825 

Simon  !  "  Here  was  wonderful  news  each  had  to 
tell.  They  talked  it  over  eagerly.  While  they 
were  doing  so,  Jesus  himself  appeared  in  their  midst. 
They  were  terrified,  dreadfully  frightened  ;  for  they 
thought  they  had  seen  a  ghost.  But  Jesus  showed 
them  His  hands  and  His  feet,  and  made  them  quite 
sure  that  it  really  was  Himself,  their  dear  Lord  and 
Friend  come  back  from  the  dead.  After  this  He 
appeared  to  His  people  again  and  again,  sometimes 
at  Jerusalem,  sometimes  in  Galilee  ;  till,  one  day 
He  led  them  out  .to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  towards 
Bethany,  and  lifted  up  His  hands  and  blessed  them. 
And  while  He  was  blessing  them  He  was  carried 
up  into  heaven,  and  a  cloud  hid  Him  from  their 
sight. 


VI 

Some  Stories  from  John 

chapter  I 

THE  STORY  OF  THE   EARLY   DISCIPLES 

All  that  I  have  told  you  so  far  about  Jesus 
Christ  is  taken  from  the  first  three  Gospels  —  Mat- 
thew, Mark,  and  Luke.  We  take  what  they  say 
together  because  they  go  over  much  the  same  story. 
These  Gospels  were  written  earlier  than  the  Gospel 
of  John.  There  are  many  more  things  in  them  than 
there  has  been  room  to  set  down  in  this  book.  And 
a  great  many  things  happened  in  the  life  of  Jesus 
that  are  not  even  to  be  found  in  Matthew,  Mark,  and 
Luke. 

John  the  apostle  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life  at 
Ephesus  in  Asia  Minor.  At  a  time  of  cruel  persecu- 
tion he  was  sent  to  the  island  of  Patmos,  and  there, 
perhaps,  he  wrote  that  strange  book  called  "  The 
Revelation,"  which  is  placed  at  the  end  of  our  Bible, 
and  which  tells  of  the  war  between  good  and  evil, 
and  the  great  victory  of  Christ  at  last.  Years  after 
this,  when  he  was  a  very  old  man,  and  most  of  the 
other  people  who  had  seen  Jesus  had  died,  John  put 

326 


THE  STORY   OF   THE  EARLY   DISCIPLES         327 

together  his  memories  of  those  wonderful  days  of 
his  youth  when  he  used  to  go  about  with  Jesus  as 
one  of  His  disciples.  These  memories  stood  out  in 
his  memory  sharp  and  clear,  as  the  scenes  of  youth 
do  stand  out  even  in  old  age.  But  John  had 
thought  much  about  them  and  often  talked  of  them, 
and  when  he  came  to  set  them  down  in  a  book  he 
did  it  in  his  own  way. 

John  commences  by  telling  how  the  Word  was  in 
the  beginning  face  to  face  with  God  and  was  God  ; 
how  all  things  were  made  by  Him,  how  He  was  the 
light  of  men,  and  how  He  became  a  man  and  lived 
among  men.  So  by  the  "  Word "  he  meant  that 
which  is  God  in  Jesus,  what  we  call  the  Divine 
nature  of  Jesus. 

Then  John  goes  on  to  tell  us  about  John  the  Baptist 
and  the  early  disciples  of  Jesus.  It  was  in  the  time 
before  Jesus  had  begun  His  public  work,  but  after 
He  had  been  baptized.  John  was  standing  with 
two  of  his  disciples  when  he  saw  Jesus  coming 
along.  The  Baptist  gazed  at  Him  with  awe  and 
admiration,  and  exclaimed,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  !  "  At  another  time  he  said,  "  Behold  the  Lamb 
of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world." 

Then  the  two  disciples  went  after  Jesus.  Seeing 
them  following,  He  turned  and  asked  them  what 
they  wanted. 

"  Rabbi,"  they  said,  "  where  are  you  staying  ?  " 

"  Come,"  He  answered,  "  and  you  shall  see. "  So 
they  went  home  with   Him.     This  was  about  four 


328  SOME   STORIES   FEOM  JOHN 

o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  One  of  these  two  was 
Andrew,  Simon  Peter's  brother.  He  went  and 
fetched  his  brother  Peter. 

The  next  day  Jesus  found  Philip  and  called 
him ;  Philip  was  from  Bethsaida,  where  Andrew 
and  Peter  lived,  so  most  likely  they  were  friends. 
Philip  fetched  his  friend  Nathaniel.  But  Nathaniel 
was  slow  to  believe  what  Philip  said  about  Jesus; 
"  Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  "  he 
asked.  Philip  made  a  very  wise  answer  —  "  Come 
and  see." 

When  Jesus  saw  Nathaniel  coming  to  Him  He 
said,  "See  an  Israelite  indeed  in  whom  there  is  no 
deceit." 

"  How  do  you  know  me  ?  "  said  Nathaniel. 

"  Before  Philip  called  you.  When  you  were 
under  the  fig  tree  I  saw  you." 

That  was  enough.  Nathaniel's  doubts  vanished. 
With  joy  he  cried,  "Rabbi,  Thou  art  the  Son  of 
God;  Thou  art  the  King  of  Israel." 

Then  John  goes  on  to  tell  how  Jesus  came  to 
work  His  first  wonder.  He  was  at  a  wedding  feast 
in  Cana  of  Galilee  with  His  disciples.  They  ran 
short  of  wine,  and  His  mother  came  to  Him  about 
it.  Jesus  told  the  servants  to  fill  some  water-pots 
with  water.  Then  He  said,  "  Draw  out  now  and 
give  to  the  steward."  When  they  poured  it  out 
they  found  it  was  wine. 

It  is  John,  too,  who  gives  us  the  story  of  Nico- 
demus.     This  man  was   a   Jew  of  very  high  rank, 


THE   STORY   OF   THE  EARLY  DISCIPLES         329 

and  he  came  to  Jesus  by  night  because  he  did  not 
want  to  be  seen. 

"  Rabbi,"  he  said,  "  we  know  you  are  a  teacher 
sent  from  God,  for  no  man  can  do  these  signs  that 
you  do,  unless  God  is  with  him." 

Jesus  answered  in  a  very  different  way  from  what 
Nicodemus  was  expecting  — 

"  Most  certainly,  I  tell  you,  unless  a  man  is  born 
from  above,  he  cannot  see  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

" How  can  a  man  be  born  when  he  is  old? " 

w  Most  certainly,  I  tell  you,  unless  a  man  is  born 
by  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  Do  not  be  surprised  that  I  told 
you  you  must  be  born  from  above.  The  wind 
blows  as  it  will.  You  hear  its  voice.  But  you 
cannot  tell  where  it  comes  from  or  where  it  is 
going.     So  is  every  one  that  is  born  by  the  Spirit." 


CHAPTER   II 

THE  WOMAN   AT  THE   WELL 

It  happened  once  when  Jesus  was  passing  through 
Samaria,  that  He  came  to  a  small  town  called  Sychar, 
at  the  entrance  to  the  valley  between  two  mountains, 
called  Ebal  and  Gerizim.  A  little  way  from  the 
town  there  was  a  well ;  this  well  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  present  day,  for  it  is  still  there. 

When  Jesus  reached  the  well  it  was  twelve 
o'clock  in  the  day,  a  very  hot  time  in  Palestine. 
As  He  was  tired  and  thirsty,  He  sat  down  by  the 
well  while  His  disciples  went  into  the  town  to  buy 
some  food.  But  He  could  not  get  any  water  to 
drink,  because  He  had  no  means  of  fetching  it  up 
from  the  deep  well. 

Presently  a  woman  of  Samaria  came  down  to 
draw  water.  Jesus  asked  her  to  give  Him  some  to 
drink. 

She  was  very  much  surprised  at  this,  because 
Jews  did  not  like  to  take  favours  from  Samaritans, 
as  they  despised  them. 

"  How  is  it,"  she  said,  "  that  you,  a  Jew,  ask  for 
drink  from  me,  a  Samaritan  woman  ?  " 

Jesus  did  not  answer  her  question,  but  instead 
of  doing  so,  He  surprised  her  still  more  by  saying, 
"If  only  you  knew  God's  gift,  and  who  it  is  that 

330 


331 


THE  WOMAN  AT  THE  WELL  333 

asks  you,  you  would  ask  Him,  and  He  would  give 
you  living  water." 

"  Sir,"  she  answered,  "  you  have  nothing  to  draw 
with,  and  the  well  is  deep.  How  then  will  you  get 
your  living  water  ?  Are  you  greater  than  our  father 
Jacob,  who  gave  us  the  well,  and  drank  from  it  him- 
self with  his  sons  and  his  cattle?" 

"Every  one  who  drinks  of  this  water,"  said 
Jesus,  "shall  thirst  again;  but  whoever  drinks  of 
the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst, 
for  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him 
a  well  of  water  springing  up  to  eternal  life." 

"Sir,"  she  answered,  "give  me  this  water  that 
I  may  not  thirst,  nor  come  all  the  way  here  to 
draw  from  the  well." 

"  Go,  call  your  husband." 

"  I  have  no  husband,"  she  answered. 

"  You  said  rightly  that  you  have  no  husband,  for 
you  have  had  five  husbands,  and  he  whom  you  now 
have  is  not  your  husband." 

How  startled  she  must  have  been  to  find  a  stranger 
who  knew  the  miserable  story  of  her  life  ! 

"  Sir,"  she  said,  "  I  see  you  are  a  prophet !  "  Then 
she  thought  she  would  get  this  strange  prophet  to 
answer  a  question  that  had  often  puzzled  her.  So 
she  said,  "  Our  fathers  worshipped  in  this  mountain  " 
—  pointing  to  Mount  Gerizim,  the  mountain  on  the 
south  side  of  the  valley,  where  the  Samaritans  had 
built  a  temple,  and  where  they  have  sacrificed  their 
Paschal   lamb,  even  till  our  own  time  —  "but  you 


334  SOME   STORIES   FROM  JOHN 

say  that  the  place  where  men  ought  to  worship  is  in 
Jerusalem." 

"Woman,"  said  Jesus,  "believe  Me,  the  time  has 
come  to  worship  the  Father  neither  in  this  mountain 
nor  at  Jerusalem.  God  is  Spirit,  and  they  that  wor- 
ship Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 

This  very  much  puzzled  her,  and  all  she  could 
answer  was,  "  I  know  that  Messiah  is  coming  ;  when 
He  is  come  He  will  tell  us  all  things." 

"I,  who  am  speaking  to  you,"  said  Jesus,  "am 
He." 

Then  the  woman  left  her  water-pot,  and  ran  back 
to  the  town,  saying,  "  Come,  see  a  man  who  told  me 
all  that  ever  I  did  ;  can  this  be  the  Christ  ?  " 

In  this  way  she  brought  a  number  of  her  neigh- 
bours out  to  the  Avell ;  and  Jesus  preached  to  them, 
and  won  some  of  them  to  believe  in  Him. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  MAN  WHO  WAS   BORN   BLIND 

When  Jesus  was  up  at  Jerusalem  for  one  of  the 
feasts  He  passed  a  man  who  had  been  blind  from  his 
birth. 

"Rabbi,"  said  His  disciples,  "who  did  sin,  this 
man  or  his  parents,  that  he  was  born  blind  ?  " 

The  Jews  were  taught  to  believe  that  suffering 
was  the  punishment  of  sin  :  so,  if  a  man  was  born 
with  something  wrong  about  him,  it  was  hard  to  see 
when  the  sin  had  been  committed.  Had  he  lived  in 
another  life  before  he  was  born  to  the  present  life  ? 
or  was  he  suffering  for  his  parents'  sins  ? 

Jesus  said  it  was  neither.  The  man  was  there  as 
he  was  that  the  works  of  God  might  be  done.  Then 
He  spat  in  the  dust  and  made  clay,  and  put  it  to  the 
man's  eyes,  saying,  "  Go  and  wash  in  the  pool  of 
Siloam."  He  went  and  washed,  and  when  he  came 
back  he  could  see. 

Now  he  was  a  well-known  beggar,  and  some  of 
those  people  who  had  often  seen  him  said,  M  Is  not 
this  the  man  who  used  to  sit  and  beg  ?  " 

Some  said,  "It  is  he";  others  said,  "No,  but  he 
is  like  him."  The  man  himself  put  them  right  by 
saying,  "  I  am  he." 

335 


336  SOME   STORIES   FROM  JOHN 

"  How,  then,  were  your  eyes  opened  ?  "  they  asked. 

He  told  them  what  Jesus  had  done,  and  they  took 
him  to  the  Pharisees,  who  were  much  put  about 
because  the  cure  had  taken  place  on  the  Sabbath 
day.  So  they  questioned  the  man  very  closely  ; 
next  they  sent  for  his  parents,  who  said,  "  We  know 
that  this  is  our  son,  and  that  he  was  born  blind ;  but 
we  do  not  know  how  it  is  that  he  sees  now,  or  who 
opened  his  eyes.     He  is  of  age ;  ask  him." 

Then  the  Pharisees  called  him  up  again,  and  said, 
"  Give  God  the  glory ;  we  know  that  this  man  is  a 
sinner." 

He  answered,  "  Whether  he  be  a  sinner  I  do  not 
know ;  one  thing  I  know,  that  whereas  I  was  blind, 
now  I  see." 

"What  did  He  do  to  you?  How  did  He  open 
your  eyes  ?  " 

"  I  told  you  before ;  but  you  would  not  hear  me. 
Will  you  hear  me  now?  Do  you  wish  to  become 
His  disciples  ?  " 

They  could  make  nothing  of  him,  and  they  were 
in  a  great  rage. 

But  he  was  a  brave  man,  and  he  would  not  be 
quieted.  "  Why,"  he  went  on,  "  here  is  a  marvel ; 
you  do  not  know  where  He  comes  from,  and  yet  He 
opened  my  eyes.  If  this  Man  had  not  come  from 
God  He  could  do  nothing." 

At  this  they  lost  their  temper,  and  answered, 
"  You  were  altogether  born  in  sin,  and  do  you  teach 
us  ?  "     And  they  turned  him  out. 


The  Pool  of  Siloam 
337 


THE  MAN   WHO  WAS  BORN  BLIND  339 

Jesus  heard  tliey  had  turned  him  out,  and  when 
He  met  him  He  asked  him  if  he  believed  on  the  Son 
of  God.  The  man  did  not  understand  at  first,  but 
when  Jesus  had  explained  to  him  he  cried,  "  Lord,  I 
believe,"  and  bowed  down  on  the  ground  before 
Jesus. 


CHAPTER  IV 

LAZARUS 

Not  many  weeks  before  Jesus  was  given  up  to 
His  enemies,  and  while  He  was  living  in  quiet  with 
His  disciples  in  the  part  called  Perea,  down  in  the 
south  on  the  further  side  of  the  River  Jordan, 
Lazarus,  the  brother  of  Mary  and  Martha  of 
Bethany,  was  taken  dangerously  ill.  The  sisters 
sent  word  to  Jesus,  with  the  message,  "Lord,  he 
whom  Thou  lovest  is  sick."  Jesus  loved  the  family 
at  Bethany,  and  yet  He  stayed  where  He  was  for 
two  days  after  He  had'  received  this  message.  For 
He  had  work  to  do  that  must  not  be  given  up, 
though  what  it  was  we  do  not  know. 

At  the  end 'of  two  days  He  said,  "Our  friend 
Lazarus  has  fallen  asleep ;  but  I  am  going  to  wake 
Him  from  sleep."  The  disciples  knew  that  it  was 
very  dangerous  for  Jesus  to  go  near  Jerusalem  at 
that  time,  but  one  of  them  named  Thomas  said, 
"Let  us  go,  too,  that  we  may  die  with  Him." 

When  Jesus  came  to  Bethany  He  found  that 
Lazarus  had  already  been  in  the  grave  four  days. 
As  soon  as  Martha  heard  that  Jesus  was  coming,  she 
went  out  to  meet  Him ;  Mary  did  not  yet  know  He 
was  so  near.  The  two  sisters  had  been  dreadfully 
disappointed  that  Jesus  had  not  come  before.     Now, 

340 


LAZARUS  341 

it  seemed,  He  was  too  late.  It  was  very  trying  for 
them.  Jesus  was  never  flustered  and  in  a  hurry 
as  Martha  often  was  ;  but  then  He  was  never  really 
too  late.  Still  Martha  could  not  understand  that  at 
the  time,  and  directly  she  saw  Jesus  she  burst  out 
with  the  complaint,  "Lord,  if  only  you  had  been 
here,  my  brother  would  not  have  died." 

41  Your  brother  shall  rise  again,"  said  Jesus. 

"  Yes  ;  I  know  he  shall  rise  again  at  the  resurrec- 
tion at  the  last  day."  She  did  not  find  much  com- 
fort in  that  thought.  It  was  a  far-off  thought, 
something  she  always  believed  because  she  had  been 
taught  it  from  a  child  ;  but  it  did  not  mean  much  to 
her.  She  did  not  see  that  it  had  anything  to  do 
with  Jesus.  So  He  said  to  her,  "I  am  the  Resur- 
rection and  the  Life ;  he  who  trusts  in  Me,  though 
he  die,  he  shall  yet  live  ;  and  whoever  lives  trusting 
in  Me  shall  never  die.     Do  you  believe  this?" 

Then  it  was  as  though  a  sunbeam  broke  out  of 
the  clouds,  and  she  looked  up  through  her  tears  and 
said,  "  Yes,  Lord.  I  have  come  to  believe  that  you 
are  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God." 

After  this  she  went  back  and  called  her  sister, 
secretly,  whispering  to  her,  "  The  Teacher  is  here, 
and  He  is  asking  for  you." 

Mary  got  up  quickly  and  went  out  to  Him  and 
flung  herself  on  the  ground  at  His  feet,  repeating 
the  very  same  words  that  Martha  had  used,  "  Lord, 
if  only  you  had  been  here  my  brother  would  not 
have  died." 


342  SOME   STORIES   FROM  JOHN 

They  must  often  have  been  saying  this  to  one 
another. 

When  Jesus  saw  her  crying  He  was  dreadfully 
distressed.  "  Where  have  you  laid  him  ? "  He 
asked.  And  as  they  led  Him  towards  the  tomb 
He  wept.  When  the  Jews  saw  this  they  said,  u  See 
how  He  loved  him  !  "  Jesus,  sighing  and  groaning, 
came  to  the  tomb.  It  was  a  cave,  and  a  stone  lay 
against  it. 

"Take  away  the  stone,"  He  said.  Martha  did 
not  like  them  to  have  that  done,  because  Lazarus 
had  been  buried  four  days  ;  so  Jesus  said  to  her, 
"  Did  I  not  tell  you  that  if  you  believed  you  would 
see  the  glory  of  God  ?  " 

Then  they  rolled  away  the  stone.  When  Jesus 
had  lifted  up  His  eyes  and  given  thanks  to  His 
Father  for  having  heard  His  prayer,  He  called  with 
a  loud  voice,  "  Lazarus,  come  forth  !  " 

And  the  dead  man  came  out  of  the  cave  alive 
again,  bound  up  in  white  linen  from  head  to  foot, 
with  his  face  wrapped  in  a  napkin. 

"Loose  him,"  said  Jesus,  "and  let  him  go." 

So  Lazarus  was  brought  back  from  the  dead  ; 
and  he  went  home  with  his  sisters,  to  their  great 
joy  and  wonder. 

But  the  enemies  of  Jesus  made  this  a  reason  for 
seeking  to  destroy  Lazarus,  as  well  as  Jesus. 


CHAPTER  V 

SOME    MEMORIES    OF     THE    TRIAL    AND    DEATH    OF 
JESUS 

John  gives  us  a  very  full  account  of  the  last 
days  of  Jesus  on  earth.  He  knew  some  of  the  high 
priest's  people,  and  he  was  allowed  to  go  in  with 
Jesus  to  the  trial  at  the  high  priest's  house,  and 
watch  what  went  on.  He  tells  us,  too,  about  the 
trial  before  Pontius  Pilate  —  how  Pilate  questioned 
Jesus,  and  how  Jesus  perplexed  him  with  strange 
answers.  We  learn  that  when  the  soldiers  had  been 
mocking  Jesus,  Pilate  brought  Him  out  to  the  Jews, 
with  the  purple  cloak  and  the  crown  of  thorns  on 
His  head,  and  said,  "  Behold  the  Man." 

John  tells  us  that  when  Jesus  was  on  the  cross 
He  saw  His  mother  and  "the  disciple  whom  He 
loved" — that  must  be  meant  for  John  himself  — 
standing  by.  Looking  at  His  mother,  He  said, 
"  Woman,  see  your  son,"  and  then  looking  to  John, 
He  said,  "See  your  mother."  They  both  under- 
stood that  the  dying  Jesus  was  trusting  Mary  to 
the  care  of  His  friend,  and  from  that  time  John 
took  her  to  his  own  home. 

After  this,  we  learn,  Jesus  said,  "I  thirst,"  and 
then  it  was  that  somebody  gave  Him  the  sour  wine 

343 


344  SOME   STORIES   FROM   JOHN 

on  a  sponge.  Directly  He  had  received  it  He  said, 
"  It  is  finished,"  and  His  Spirit  passed  away. 

We  learn,  too,  from  John,  that  the  soldiers  broke 
the  legs  of  the  two  robbers,  to  kill  them  before  the 
Sabbath.  They  did  not  do  so  to  Jesus,  because  He 
was  dead  already.  It  was  very  unusual  for  a  person 
to  die  so  quickly  on  the  cross.  The  sufferers  some- 
times lingered  in  agony  for  several  days.  To  make 
sure  that  Jesus  was  dead,  a  soldier  pierced  His  side, 
and  there  came  out  blood  and  water. 

One  more  recollection  of  this  dreadful  day.  John 
tells  us  that  Nicodemus  brought  some  spices  to  the 
burial  of  Jesus  in  Joseph's  tomb,  which  was  in  a 
garden.  This  shows  that  he  had  secretly  believed 
in  Jesus. 


CHAPTER  VI 

MARY   AT  THE  TOMB,  AND   THOMAS  WHO   DOUBTED 

John  has  his  memories,  too,  of  the  risen  Christ. 
It  is  he  who  tells  us  about  Mary  Magdalene  at  the 
tomb.  She  came  with  the  other  women  very  early 
on  the  Sunday  morning  on  which  Jesus  had  risen 
from  the  dead.  But  none  of  them  knew  of  this 
glad  wonder.  When  she  found  the  tomb  empty 
she  ran  and  told  Peter,  and  he  came,  and  John  with 
him ;  and  they  found  the  linen  clothes  lying  rolled 
up  in  the  empty  tomb. 

Mary  was  standing  by,  crying.  She  stooped  down 
and  looked  in.  There  she  saw  two  angels  in  white, 
sitting  one  at  the  head  and  the  other  at  the  feet, 
where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  been.  They  asked  her 
why  she  was  crying,  and  she  said,  "  Because  they 
have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  do  not  know  where 
they  have  laid  Him." 

Then  she  turned  and  saw  some  one  standing  by 
her,  and  He  said  to  her,  "  Woman,  why  are  you  cry- 
ing ?     Whom  are  you  looking  for  ?  " 

She  thought  it  was  the  gardener,  and  she  an- 
swered, "  Sir,  if  you  have  taken  Him  from  here,  tell 
me  where  you  have  laid  Him,  and  I  will  come  and 
bring  Him  away." 

345 


346  SOME   STORIES   FROM  JOHN 

"  Mary  ! "  He  said,  for  it  was  Jesus. 

She  turned  with  a  start.  "  Rabboni !  (Master  !)  " 
she  cried,  and  she  would  have  flung  herself 
upon  Him.  But  He  drew  back,  saying,  "  Do  not 
touch  Me ;  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  to  My 
Father  and  your  Father,  and  My  God  and  your 
God." 

That  same  evening,  when  the  disciples  were  in  a 
room  with  the  door  shut,  Jesus  came  and  stood  in 
the  midst  of  them,  and  said,  "Peace  be  with  you," 
and  showed  them  His  hands  and  His  feet.  They 
were  glad  indeed  when  they  saw  it  really  was  their 
dear  Lord  come  back  to  them  from  the  grave.  He 
breathed  on  them,  giving  them  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
the  right  to  say  what  sort  of  people's  sins  could  be 
forgiven,  and  what  sort  of  people's  sins  were  still  to 
stand  against  them.1 

Now  Thomas  was  not  present,  and  when  he  heard 
of  it  he  said,  "  Unless  I  shall  see  in  His  hands  the 
print  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  finger  into  them,  and 
my  hand  into  His  side,  I  will  not  believe." 

A  week  later  the  disciples  were  met  together,  and 
this  time  Thomas  was  with  them.  Jesus  came  again 
and  stood  in  the  midst  of  them,  though  the  doors 
were  shut,  and  said,  "  Peace  be  with  you."  Then, 
turning  to  Thomas,  He  added,  "  Reach  out  your 
finger  and  see  My  hands  ;  and  reach  your  hand  and 

1  John  was  one  of  the  Apostles  to  whom  Jesus  gave  this  right, 
and  we  may  see  how  he  used  it  in  his  own  writings,  as  for  example 
in  1  John  i.  8-10. 


MARY   AT   THE  TOMB  347 

put  it  into  My  side  ;  and  be  not  without  faith,  but 

be  believing." 

Thomas  cried,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God !  " 

"  Because  you  have  seen  Me,"  said  Jesus,  "  you 

have  believed.     Happy  are  they  that  have  not  seen 

and  yet  have  believed." 


CHAPTER  VII 

PETER   BY  THE  SEA 

The  last  of  John's  recollections  takes  us  away  to 
the  Sea  of  Galilee ;  he  does  not  say  when.  Peter 
was  there  with  some  other  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus. 

"  I  am  going  fishing,"  he  said. 

The  others  agreed  to  go  with  him.  But  they 
took  nothing  all  night. 

As  they  came  in  at  daybreak  Jesus  was  standing 
on  the  beach  ;  but  they  did  not  know  it  was  He. 
Calling  to  them  over  the  water,  He  said,"  Children, 
have  you  anything  to  eat  ?  " 

"  No,"  they  answered. 

"  Cast  the  net  on  the  right  side  of  the  boat,  and 
you  will  find  some  fish." 

They  did  so,  and  they  were  not  able  to  draw  the 
net  to  the  shore  for  the  great  number  of  fishes  that 
were  in  it. 

The  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  said  to  Peter,  "  It 
is  the  Lord  !  "  At  this  Peter  girded  his  coat  about 
him  and  leaped  into  the  sea,  wading  through  the 
water  to  the  shore.  The  others  came  in  the  little 
boat,  dragging  the  net  full  of  fishes.  There  they 
saw  a  fire  of  charcoal,  and  a  fish  broiling  on  it ; 
there  was  some  bread,  too.  Jesus  said,  "  Bring  some 
of  the  fish  you  have  just  caught." 

348 


PETER   BY  THE  SEA  349 

So  Peter  went  aboard  and  drew  the  net  to  land, 
and  they  found  in  it  a  hundred  and  fifty-three  fishes. 

"Come,"  said  Jesus,  "and  have  your  breakfast." 
And  none  of  the  disciples  dared  to  ask  who  He  was; 
but  they  were  sure  now  that  it  was  the  Lord. 

After  breakfast  Jesus  said  to  Simon  Peter,  "  Simon, 
son  of  John,  do  you  love  Me  more  than  these  ?  " 

"Yes,  Lord,"  he  answered.  "You  know  that  I 
love  You  dearly." 

"  Feed  My  lambs,"  said  Jesus. 

He  asked  him  a  second  time,  "  Simon,  son  of  John, 
do  you  love  Me  ?  " 

"Yes,  Lord,"  he  answered  again.  "You  know 
that  I  love  You  dearly." 

"  Care  for  My  sheep." 

Once  more  He  asked  him,  "  Simon,  son  of  John, 
do  you  love  Me  dearly  ?  " 

Peter  was  grieved  because  He  had  asked  him  the 
question  three  times,  and  he  said,  "  Lord,  You  know 
all  things.     You  know  that  I  love  You  dearly." 

"  Feed  my  sheep,"  said  Jesus.  Then  He  went  on 
to  tell  Peter  that,  though  he  had  girded  himself 
when  he  was  young,  when  he  was  old  he  would  have 
to  stretch  out  his  hands,  and  another  would  gird 
him,  and  carry  him  where  he  did  not  wish  to  go. 
John  wrote  about  this  after  Peter  was  dead  ;  and  by 
that  time  he  was  able  to  see  what  Jesus  meant.  It 
was  a  warning  of  the  death  Peter  was  to  die,  for 
Peter  followed  his  Master  faithfully  to  the  last,  and 
was  martyred  ;  it  is  said  he  was  crucified. 


VII 

The  Disciples  at  Jerusalem 

chapter  I 

THE  GIFT  OF  THE   SPIRIT 

It  was  the  harvest  festival,  which  the  Jews  called 
the  feast  of  the  Pentecost,  a  few  weeks  after  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus.  A  hundred  and  twenty  of 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  were  in  Jerusalem,  and  were 
met  together  in  one  room.  Suddenly  they  heard  a 
sound  like  a  great  rushing  wind,  then  they  saw  what 
looked  like  tongues  of  fire,  which  settled  on  each  of 
the  hundred  and  twenty.  They  were  all  filled  with 
the  Holy  Spirit.  A  great  excitement  seized  them, 
and  they  broke  out  into  the  praises  of  God  with 
strange  wild  cries.  Indeed,  so  strange  were  these 
cries  that  when  the  Jews  heard  the  sound  they  said 
those  people  must  be  drunk.  We  never  hear  any- 
thing of  the  kind  now,  but  the  same  thing  happened 
at  Corinth  years  later,  and  Paul  had  a  great  deal  to 
say  about  it.  He  did  not  think  it  anything  to  be 
proud  of,  or  boast  about.  Yet  it  was  a  sign  that 
the  hearts  of  the  disciples  were  so  greatly  stirred  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  that  they  could  not  restrain  them- 

350 


THE   GIFT   OF   THE   SPIRIT  351 

selves ;  they  could  not  help  bursting  out  into  cries 
of  joy. 

But  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  was  meant  for  some- 
thing better  than  this.  It  was  given  to  help  the 
disciples  preach  the  good  news  of  Christ  and  His 
kingdom.  They  began  at  once  to  preach  to  the 
hosts  of  Jews,  who  had  come  up  to  the  feast  from  all 
parts  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

The  people  were  amazed  and  perplexed.  They 
could  not  make  out  what  it  all  meant.  Some  said, 
"  They  are  drunk  with  new  wine." 

Peter  stood  up  with  the  rest  of  the  Apostles,  and 
declared  that  for  all  their  excitement  they  were  not 
drunk.  It  was  not  at  all  likely  they  would  be,  see- 
ing it  was.  only  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  He 
said  this  was  the  coming  about  of  what  the  ancient 
prophet  Joel  had  spoken  of  — 

And  it  shall  be  in  the  last  days,  saith  God, 
I  will  pour  forth  of  My  Spirit  upon  all  flesh ; 
And  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy, 
And  your  young  men  shall  see  visions, 
And  your  old  men  shall  dream,  dreams. 

Peter  went  on  to  tell  how  this  coming  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  —  no  longer  only  on  prophets,  but  on 
all  kinds  of  people,  young  and  old  —  was  brought 
about  by  Jesus  Christ.  He  charged  the  Jews  with 
crucifying  Jesus ;  but  he  declared  that  God  had 
raised  Him  from  the  dead,  and  that  he  and  his 
friends  were  witnesses  of  that  great  wonder. 


352  THE  DISCIPLES   AT   JERUSALEM 

When  they  heard  this  they  were  pricked  to  the 
heart,  and  cried,  "  Brothers,  what  shall  we  do  ?  " 

Peter  told  them  to  turn  from  evil,  and  become 
baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  for- 
giveness of  their  sins.  Those  who  accepted  what 
Peter  said  were  baptized,  and  a  host  of  new  disciples 
was  added  to  the  number  of  the  followers  of  Jesus. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  HAPPY  LIFE  OF  THE  BROTHERS 

These  disciples  of  Jesus  looked  upon  one  another 
as  brothers  and  sisters.  Those  who  had  property 
sold  it  and  gave  to  those  who  were  needy.  Every 
day  they  used  to  meet  in  one  another's  houses  and 
dine  together  in  a  happy  simplicity  of  heart,  full  of 
kindness,  full  of  joy,  full  of  praise. 

They  used  to  go  up  to  the  Temple  to  pray,  for 
they  were  still  Jews.  It  happened  once  that  when 
Peter  and  John  were  going  into  the  Temple  at 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  one  of  the  hours  of 
prayer,  there  was  a  man  who  had  been  born  lame 
lying  at  the  gate  called  Beautiful.  Perhaps  this 
was  the  "Susa  Gate,"  one  made  of  massive 
Corinthian  brass,  so  heavy  that  it  is  said  it  took 
twenty  men  to  move  it.  So  here  were  splendour  of 
man's  work  and  man's  helpless  misery  side  by  side. 

Seeing  Peter  and  John,  the  lame  man  began  to 
beg.  Peter,  fixing  his  eyes  on  him,  said,  "  Look  on 
us."  The  fishermen  did  not  look  as  though  they 
had  much  to  give  away.  But  the  poor  are  kind  to 
the  poor,  and  seafaring  people  are  often  very  free 
with  their  money.  So  the  beggar  still  expected 
something. 

2a  353 


354  THE  DISCIPLES   AT  JERUSALEM 

But  Peter  said,  "  Silver  and  gold  I  have  none ; 
but  what  I  have  I  will  give  you.  In  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth  —  walk  !  "  At  the  same 
time  he  took  him  by  the  right  hand  and  raised 
him  up ;  and  immediately  he  got  strength  in  his 
feet  and  ankle  bones.  He  leaped  up  ;  he  stood  a 
moment.  Then  he  began  to  walk,  and  he  went 
with  them  into  the  Temple,  walking  and  leaping 
and  praising  God. 

The  people  were  astonished,  for  they  had  often 
seen  the  lame  man  begging  at  the  Temple  gate; 
and  they  ran  together  in  a  great  crowd.  Then 
Peter  preached  to  them  about  Jesus  Christ,  through 
whose  power  the  wonder  had  been  done.  In  this 
way  a  great  many  more  disciples  were  added  to 
them.  But  the  priests  and  the  principal  people  at 
the  Temple  were  vexed  at  the  preaching  of  Jesus, 
whom  they,  had  crucified.  They  had  Peter  arrested 
and  brought  before  Caiaphas  and  the  council — 
before  the  very  people  who  were  examining  Jesus 
when  Peter  denied  his  Master.  But  Peter  was 
another  man  now.  A  great  change  had  come  over 
him  since  Jesus  had  risen  from  the  dead  and  he  had 
received  the  Spirit  of  God.  Besides,  he  had  learnt 
well  the  lesson  of  his  fall.  So  when  the  council 
told  him  and  John  to  speak  no  more  in  the  name 
of  Jesus,  Peter  answered  boldly,  "  Whether  it  be 
right  in  the  sight  of  God  to  listen  to  you  rather 
than  to  God  you  must  judge.  But  we  cannot  but 
speak  the  things  we  have  seen  and  heard." 


THE   HAPPY   LIFE   OF  THE  BROTHERS  355 

The  Apostles  were  so  great  favourites  with  the 
people  at  this  time  that  the  council  did  not  like  to 
hurt  them ;  so  they  only  threatened  them,  and  let 
them  go. 

They  would  not  leave  off  preaching  about  Jesus 
and  the  resurrection  for  any  threats.  This  very 
much  annoyed  that  part  of  the  ruling  Jews  who 
were  called  Sadducees,  because  they  taught  that 
there  was  no  resurrection.  But  a  wise  man  named 
Gamaliel,  of  the  Pharisees  —  the  opposite  party  — 
advised  them  to  let  the  Apostles  alone.  He  said 
if  the  thing  was  only  from  men  it  would  come  to 
nothing  ;  but  if  it  was  from  God  they  could  not  over- 
throw it,  and  they  would  be  found  fighting  against 
God.  This  good  advice  was  followed,  and  the 
Apostles  were  let  alone  for  a  time. 


CHAPTER   III 

STEPHEN,   THE  FIRST  MARTYR 

There  were  a  great  many  poor  disciples  at  Jeru- 
salem who  had  to  be  supported  out  of  the  moneys 
that  were  given  by  their  more  well-to-do  compan- 
ions. The  Greek-speaking  Jews  who  had  come 
from  foreign  parts  complained  that  their  widows 
did  not  get  a  fair  share  of  the  gifts.  This  was  a 
tiresome  business,  and  it  hindered  the  Apostles  in 
preaching  and  teaching.  So  they  called  the  whole 
body  of  the  disciples  together,  and  got  them  to 
choose  seven  men  to  look  after  it. 

One  of  these  was  Stephen.  He  was  a  very  gifted 
man,  and,  besides  doing  his  special  duty  of  seeing 
that  the  poor  were  all"  properly  provided  for,  he 
taught  and  worked  wonders.  Some  of  the  Jews 
from  North  Africa  and  Asia  Minor,  who  were  in 
Jerusalem  at  the  time,  argued  with  him  ;  but  he 
was  too  clever  for  them,  and  what  he  had  to  say  was 
not  to  be  answered.  They  were  in  a  great  rage  at 
being  beaten  in  arguing,  and  they  got  men  to  swear 
before  the  council  that  he  was  guilty  of  blasphemy. 
These  men  accused  him  of  speaking  against  the 
Temple  and  the  law.  This  was  much  the  same 
charge  as  that  which  had  been  brought  against 
Jesus. 

356 


STEPHEN,    THE  FIRST   MARTYR  357 

All  the  council  turned  to  Stephen  to  see  how  he 
would  take  the  accusation.^  His  face  was  so  bright 
and  beautiful  with  the  joy  of  God  that  it  looked  to 
them  like  the  face  of  an  angel. 

The  high  priest  asked  him,  "  Are  these  things 
so?" 

Stephen  made  a  most  eloquent  speech  in  reply. 
He  went  back  over  the  history  of  his  people,  show- 
ing how  all  along  they  had  disobeyed  the  Spirit  of 
God.  Then  he  boldly  turned  on  them,  calling  them 
a  stiff-necked  people.  "  Which  of  the  prophets  did 
not  your  fathers  persecute  ?  "  he  said.  "  They  killed 
those  who  told  them  beforehand  about  the  coming 
of  the  Righteous  One,  of  whom  *you  have  now  be- 
come betrayers  and  murderers." 

When  they  heard  him  say  these  things  they  were 
cut  to  the  heart,  and  gnashed  their  teeth  against 
him  in  rage.  But  Stephen  was  full  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and,  looking  up  to  heaven  with  a  fixed  gaze,  he 
saw  the  glory  of  God,  and  Jesus  standing  on  the 
right  hand  of  God  ;  and  he  said,  "  I  see  the  heavens 
opened,  and  the  Son  of  Man  standing  on  the  right 
hand  of  God  !  " 

This  was  blasphemy  to  them.  They  stopped  their 
ears ;  they  tried  to  shout  him  down  ;  they  all  rose 
up  together  and  rushed  at  him,  and,  seizing  him, 
dragged  him  out  of  the  city.  The  witnesses,  whose 
duty  it  was,  according  to  an  old  Jewish  custom,  to 
act  as  executioners  and  stone  a  man  condemned  to 
death,  laid  their  coats  at  the  feet  of  a  young  man 


358  THE  DISCIPLES   AT   JERUSALEM 

named  Saul.  Stephen  had  not  been  condemned.  It 
was  a  mere  act  of  violence,  the  council  behaving  like 
a  mob.  Still,  he  was  stoned.  As  they  were  fling- 
ing the  stones  at  him  he  prayed,  "  Lord  Jesus,  re- 
ceive my  spirit."  He  was  beaten  down  to  the 
ground ;  but  on  his  knees  he  cried  with  a  loud 
voice,  "Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge." 
These  were  his  last  words.  Cruel  as  was  the  mur- 
der of  him,  his  dying  seemed  to  his  friends  just  like 
falling  asleep,  he  was  so  calm,  and  brave,  and 
peaceful. 

After  this  there  was  a  great  persecution.  Saul 
took  a  leading  part  in  it,  breaking  into  houses,  and 
leading  men  and  women  off  to  prison.  The  perse- 
cution scattered  the  family  life  at  Jerusalem.  But 
wherever  the  disciples  went  they  carried  the  good 
news  of  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  so  the  persecution  really 
was  the  means  of  spreading  missionary  work  further 
afield. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PHILIP  AND  THE  ETHIOPIAN 

In  the  course  of  these  wanderings  of  the  scattered 
disciples  after  the  persecution  that  followed  the 
murder  of  Stephen,  Philip,  another  of  the  seven  men 
who  had  been  appointed  to  look  after  the  poor,  was 
led  to  go  down  from  Jerusalem  towards  a  place 
called  Gaza,  away  in  the  south  country  by  a  lonely 
road  through  the  desert.  Now  it  happened  that  an 
Ethiopian  of  high  rank  under  Candace,  the  queen  of 
the  Ethiopians,  who  had  charge  of  her  treasures,  had 
come  all  the  way  up  from  the  south  of  Arabia,  and 
perhaps  even  further,  to  worship  God  in  the  Temple 
of  Jerusalem.  He  must  have  heard  of  the  God  of 
the  Jews  in  his  far-off  country,  perhaps  from  travel- 
ling merchants,  and  his  heart  was  moved  to  make 
this  long  journey  to  the  place  where  that  God  was 
worshipped.  He  was  very  anxious  to  know  more. 
So  it  would  seem,  when  he  was  in  Jerusalem,  he 
bought  the  Jews'  Bible  —  our  Old  Testament,  or 
perhaps  only  part  of  it,  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  and  he 
was  so  eager  to  read  his  book  that  he  could  not  wait 
till  he  got  home.  He  had  it  out  in  his  carriage  as 
he  drove  along  the  quiet  road. 

When  he  overtook  Philip,  who  was  walking  on 
the  same  road,  the  Spirit  of  God  whispered  to 
Philip   to  go  up   to  him.     So  Philip  ran  after  the 

359 


360  THE   DISCIPLES   AT   JERUSALEM 

carriage,  and  as  he  came  near  he  heard  the  Ethio- 
pian reading  aloud  to  himself. 

Philip  asked  him  if  he  understood  what  he  was 
reading. 

"How  can  I,"  he  answered,  "unless  somebody 
explain  it  to  me?"  And  he  begged  Philip  to  come 
up  and  sit  with  him.  Now  the  part  of  the  Bible 
he  was  reading  was  this  — 

"  He  was  led  as  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter ; 
And  as  a  lamb  before  his  shearer  is  dumb, 
So  he  opened  not  his  mouth." 

These  words  and  those  that  follow  were  much 
perplexing  him. 

"Pray  tell  me,"  he  said,  "of  whom  is  the  prophet 
speaking  ?     Of  himself,  or  of  some  other  person  ?  " 

Then  Philip  began  to  use  this  scripture  to  tell 
him  about  Jesus  Christ.  As  they  went  on  their 
way  they  came  to  some  water,  and  the  Ethiopian 
said,  "  See,  here  is  water.  What  is  to  hinder  me 
being  baptized?"  He  told  the  coachman  to  stop 
the  carriage,  and  they  both  got  out  and  went  down 
to  the  water,  and  Philip  baptized  the  Ethiopian. 
After  this  the  Spirit  of  God  led  Philip  to  leave  the 
Ethiopian,  and  he  went  first  to  a  city  called  Azotus, 
and,  passing  through  it,  he  preached  the  good  news 
to  all  the  cities  on  the  way  till  he  came  to  Ca3sarea, 
on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  headquarters 
of  the  Roman  government  in  Palestine,  a  very  im- 
portant place. 


PHILIP  AND   THE   ETHIOPIAN  361 

As  far  as  we  know,  the  Ethiopian  was  the  first 
man  not  born  a  Jew  who  was  baptized  as  a  disciple 
of  Jesus  Christ.  But  very  likely  he  had  joined 
himself  to  the  Jewish  religion  when  he  was  at 
Jerusalem,  if  not  before.  Soon  after  this  some 
people  who  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Jew- 
ish religion  became  disciples  of  Christ. 

It  was  brought  about  in  this  way.  Some  of 
those  who  were  scattered  abroad  because  of  the 
persecution  at  the  time  of  Stephen's  death  went 
as  far  as  Cyprus,  and  some  of  the  followers  of 
Christ  from  that  island  and  from  Cyrene  on  the 
north  coast  of  Africa,  all  of  them  Jews,  went  to 
Antioch,  the  capital  of  Syria,  and  there  they 
preached  to  the  Greeks  and  Syrians.  A  number 
of  people  accepted  their  message,  and  so  there  was 
a  body  of  Gentile  followers  of  Christ  in  that  city. 
This  was  the  first  Gentile  church.  It  became  a 
great  missionary  church  for  the  heathen  in  Asia 
and  Europe.  The  name  "  Christian  "  was  first  used 
at  Antioch  for  these  followers  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  V 

PETER   ON  HIS  TRAVELS 

In  course  of  time  the  persecution  died  out.  One 
reason  for  this  was  that  the  most  fierce  of  the 
persecutors  suddenly  turned  round  and  became 
himself  a  Christian.  The  story  of  this  wonderful 
change  will  be  told  in  the  next  chapter.  The 
Christians  in  Judaea  and  Galilee  and  Samaria  had 
peace  now,  and  Peter  went  on  his  travels,  visiting 
them  in  various  places. 

Then  it  was,  as  we  read,  that  he  came  across  a 
man,  named  iEneas,  who  was  paralyzed,  and  who 
had  kept  his  bed  for  eight  years. 

Peter  said  to  him,  "  iEneas,  Jesus  Christ  is  heal- 
ing you.  Get  up  and  make  your  bed."  He  did 
so  at  once. 

A  good  many  people  at  Lydda,  and  in  other 
parts  of  that  neighbourhood,  came  to  believe  in 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  story  goes  on  to  tell  of  a  wonderful  thing 
that  happened  at  another  place  near  by  —  at  Joppa, 
on  the  Mediterranean,  the  port  for  Jerusalem.  A 
good  Christian  woman,  named  Tabitha  (or  Dorcas 
in  Greek),  fell  ill  and  died.  They  sent  to  Lydda 
to  tell  Peter ;  and  he  came  back  with  the  mes- 
senger. When  he  went  upstairs  to  the  room  where 
Dorcas  had  been  laid,  he  found  a  number  of  poor 

362 


363 


PETER   ON   HIS   TRAVELS  365 

women  standing  round  her  crying,  and  showing 
the  clothes  she  had  made  for  them.  Peter  put 
them  all  out,  and  kneeled  down  and  prayed.  Then 
turning  to  the  body,  he  said,  "  Tabitha,  arise  I  " 
She  opened  her  eyes,  and  when  she  saw  Peter  she 
sat  up.  He  held  out  his  hand  to  her,  and  raised 
her  up ;  and  after  this  he  called  the  people  in,  and 
showed  them  Dorcas  alive  again. 

Peter  now  went  to  lodge  at  the  house  of  a  man 
named  Simon,  a  tanner  at  Joppa.  There  are  tan- 
neries at  this  place  —now  called  Jaffa  —  at  the 
present  day.  The  Jews  avoided  tanners,  holding 
them  to  be  unclean,  because  they  had  to  touch 
the  hides  of  dead  animals.  But  Peter  had  learnt 
enough  of  the  mind  of  his  Master  to  stay  in  the 
house  of  one  of  these  despised  people.  He  was 
soon  to  learn  more. 

Up  the  coast  at  Csesarea  there  was  a  centurion 
—  that  is,  a  Roman  officer  in  charge  of  about  a 
hundred  soldiers  —  named  Cornelius.  Though  he 
was  a  Roman  he  worshipped  the  true  God,  and 
was  a  very  kind  man  to  the  poor,  and  was  much 
given  to  prayer.  But  he  wanted  to  know  more 
about  God.  One  night  he  had  a  vision  of  a  mes- 
senger telling  him  to  send  to  Joppa  for  Peter.  So 
he  sent  two  of  his  servants  and  the  soldier  who 
used  to  wait  on  him.  This  soldier,  too,  was  a 
man  who  worshipped  the  true  God.  They  set  out 
early,  and  by  twelve  o'clock  the  next  morning 
they  were  drawing  near  to  Joppa. 


366  THE  DISCIPLES   AT   JERUSALEM 

At  this  very  time  Peter  had  gone  up  to  the  house- 
top to  pray.  Feeling  hungry,  he  asked  the  people 
of  the  house  to  get  him  some  food.  While  they 
were  preparing  it  he  fell  into  a  deep  sleep,  and  had 
a  vision.  He  thought  he  saw  a  sheet  let  down  from 
heaven  with  all  sorts  of  animals  on  it.  And  a  voice 
came  to  him,  "Rise,  Peter;  kill  and  eat." 

"  No,  Lord,"  he  answered,  "  for  I  have  never  eaten 
anything  common  or  unclean." 

The  voice  came  a  second  time,  and  said,  "  What 
God  has  cleansed  call  not  thou  common  or  unclean." 

While  Peter  was  wondering  what  the  vision  could 
mean,  the  messengers  came  from  Cornelius.  Then 
he  understood  that  he  was  not  to  call  the  heathen 
common  or  unclean,  and  he  went  and  preached 
Christ  to  Cornelius  and  his  people. 


VIII 

The  Story  of  the  Apostle  Paul 

CHAPTER   I 

ON    THE   ROAD  TO   DAMASCUS 

In  the  days  when  Saul  was  still  a  persecutor, 
fiercer  than  ever,  he  went  to  the  high-priest  and 
got  letters  giving  him  a  right  to  go  to  the  syna- 
gogues at  Damascus  to  see  if  he  could  find  any 
people  of  the  "Way,"  as  it  was  called  —  that  is, 
the  Christian  way  of  life  —  whether  men  or  women, 
and  bring  them  in  chains  to  Jerusalem. 

As  you  come  near  to  Damascus  you  travel  over 
a  desert  country,  and  see  before  you  the  green  gar- 
dens round  the  city  and  the  white  houses  in  their 
midst.  When  Saul  was  at  this  part  of  the  road, 
suddenly  he  saw  a  bright  light,  and  heard  a  voice 
which  said,  "  Saul,  Saul,  why  do  you  persecute 
Me?" 

"Who  art  thou,  Lord?"  he  asked. 

And  the  voice  said,  "  I  am  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
whom  you  are  persecuting.  But  rise,  stand  on  your 
feet,  and  go  into  the  city ;  there  it  will  be  told  you 
what  you  are  to  do." 

When  he  got  up  he  found  he  could  not  see. 
367 


368  THE   STORY  OF   THE  APOSTLE  PAUL 

They  led  him  by  the  hand,  and  brought  him  into 
Damascus  ;  and  he  was  three  days  without  sight, 
refusing  to  eat  or  drink. 

Now  there  was  in  Damascus  a  Christian  named 
Ananias.  This  man  was  led  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
to  seek  out  Saul.  "  Arise,"  the  Lord  said  to  him  in 
a  vision,  "  and  go  to  the  street  called  Straight,  and 
ask  in  the  house  of  Judas  for  one  named  Saul,  a  man 
of  Tarsus,  for  he  is  praying." 

Ananias  could  not  believe  it.  He  had  heard  of 
the  fierce  persecutor,  and  he  knew  why  Saul  had 
come  to  Damascus.  The  Christians  of  that  city 
were  expecting  him  to  hunt  them  out  and  carry 
them  off.  It  was  a  time  of  great  danger.  And 
now  Ananias  is  to  go  directly  to  the  house  where 
the  terrible  man  is  lodging.  That  must  have  seemed 
to  him  as  bad  as  walking  into  a  lion's  den.  But 
Ananias  is  told  that  Saul  has  been  chosen  by  Christ 
to  carry  His  name  to  the  Gentiles  and  kings  as  well 
as  to  the  people  of  Israel. 

Ananias  conquered  his  fears  and  went  forth  on 
his  errand.  When  he  had  found  Saul  he  laid  his 
hands  on  him,  and  said,  "  Brother  Saul,  the  Lord 
Jesus  who  appeared  to  you  on  the  road  has  sent 
me  that  you  may  have  your  sight  and  be  filled  with 
the  Holy  Spirit."  And  immediately  it  seemed  as 
though  the  scales  fell  from  his  eyes,  and  he  got 
his  sight  back.  Then  he  rose  up  and  was  baptized  ; 
and  after  that  he  began  to  take  food  and  was 
strengthened. 


The  Straight  Street,  Damascus 


ON  THE  ROAD  TO  DAMASCUS  371 

This  was  a  tremendous  change  for  Saul.  But  he 
would  not  seek  guidance  from  any  man.  He  went 
away  into  Arabia,  and  there  under  the  teachings  of 
God  in  the  desert  he  was  prepared  for  his  great 
life-work.  Then  he  came  back  to  Damascus  and 
preached  there.  This  enraged  the  Jews,  and  they 
would  have  killed  him.  So  his  friends  let  him  down 
from  the  city  wall  in  a  basket  at  night,  and  he  got 
safely  away. 

He  went  to  Jerusalem  to  see  Peter.  At  first  the 
Christians  were  afraid  to  receive  him.  But  one  of 
them,  Barnabas,  a  very  generous,  large-hearted  man, 
spoke  for  him.  He  saw  James,  too,  the  Lord's 
brother;  but  no  other  of  the  Apostles.  The  churches 
of  Judea  did  not  know  him  by  sight.  But  they 
heard  that  he  who  had  once  persecuted  them  was 
now  preaching  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  for  this  they 
glorified  God. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  FIRST  MISSIONARY  EXPEDITION 

There  had  been  a  great  deal  of  missionary  work 
before  this;  but  it  had  been  in  the  free  acts  of 
private  persons.  There  was  no  missionary  societ}^, 
no  means  of  sending  out  missionaries.  The  first 
missionary  society  was  the  Church  at  Antioch,  that 
church  of  Greeks  and  Syrians  which  had  grown  out 
of  the  teaching  of  the  men  from  Cyprus  and  Cyrene. 

Saul  had  gone  back  to  his  native  town  of  Tarsus. 
But  his  friend  Barnabas  had  fetched  him  to  Antioch; 
and  the  two  had  been  sent  to  Jerusalem  with  a  cara- 
van, taking  food  for  the  Christians  at  Jerusalem  in 
a  time  of  famine.  It  was  after  this  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  in  the  Church  at  Antioch  told  them  to 
separate  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  a  special  work.  So 
the  members  of  the  Church  prayed  and  fasted,  and 
laid  their  hands  on  these  two,  solemnly  ordaining 
them  to  be  missionaries,  and  then  sent  them  forth. 
They  went  on  their  journey  as  messengers  from  the 
Church;  and  they  took  with  them  John  Mark,  the 
man  who  afterwards  wrote  our  second  Gospel. 

First  they  went  to  the  island  of  Cyprus;  there 
were  good  reasons  for  beginning  there.  Christians 
from  Cyprus  had  helped  to  found  the  Church  at 
Antioch;  it   was    Barnabas'  old   home;    and  it  was 

372 


THE  FIRST   MISSIONARY   EXPEDITION  373 

not  far  from  Antioch.  As  they  went  through  the 
island  preaching  the  Gospel  one  result  was  that  the 
chief  man  in  Cyprus,  the  proconsul  —  that  is, 
the  Roman  governor  —  was  brought  to  believe  in 
Jesus  Christ.  His  name  was  Sergius  Paulus.  From 
this  time  Saul  is  called  Paul,  perhaps  after  the  pro- 
consul. 

When  they  had  travelled  right  through  the  island, 
preaching  as  they  went,  they  took  ship  and  sailed 
across  to  the  mainland  of  Asia  Minor,  landing  at  a 
port  called  Perga. 

In  one  of  his  letters  Paul  tells  us  that  about  this 
time  he  had  a  strange  vision,  for  he  seemed  to  be 
caught  up  to  heaven.  Then  to  keep  him  humble 
God  sent  him  something  so  painful  that  he  could 
only  compare  it  to  a  stake  of  wood  driven  into  his 
flesh.  We  do  not  know  what  this  was.  Some  people 
think  it  was  a  disease  in  his  eyes,  some  that  it  might 
have  been  a  fever  that  seized  him  down  by  the  hot, 
unwholesome  coast.  If  so,  perhaps  this  was  the 
reason  why  he  turned  to  the  bracing  air  of  the 
mountains.  There  is  a  great  wild  range  of  moun- 
tains, covered  with  snow  in  winter,  that  runs  along 
the  south  of  Asia  Minor.  When  Paul  determined 
to  climb  these  mountains  Mark  would  not  go  with 
him.  They  had  a  dispute  over  it,  and  the  end  was 
that  Mark  left  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and  went  home 
to  his  mother  at  Jerusalem. 

The  two  climbed  the  mountains,  and  carried  the 
good  news  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the  towns  on  the  other 


374  THE   STORY   OF   THE  APOSTLE  PAUL 

side.  First  they  went  to  the  Jews,  but  when  most 
of  their  own  countrymen  turned  against  them  they 
preached  to  the  Gentiles.  This  made  the  Jews  very 
angry  and  jealous. 

At  a  place  called  Lystra  they  met  a  cripple.  Paul 
looked  at  him  steadfastly,  and  saw  that  he  had  faith 
to  be  healed.  So  he  said  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Stand 
upright  on  your  feet."  And  the  man  leaped  up,  and 
was  able  to  walk. 

This  so  astonished  the  heathen  people  that  they 
said,  "  The  gods  have  come  down  to  us  in  the  like- 
ness of  men."  Barnabas  they  called  Zeus,  the  king 
of  the  gods,  and  Paul  they  took  for  Hermes,  the 
messenger  god,  because  he  was  the  chief  speaker. 
The  priest  of  Zeus  brought  oxen,  decorated  with 
garlands  of  flowers  to  offer  as  sacrifices  to  the  two 
missionaries.  But  when  Barnabas  and  Paul  under- 
stood what  was  going  on  they  were  horrified,  and 
they  leaped  among  the  people,  crying,  "  Sirs,  why 
are  you  doing  this  ?  We  are  men  of  the  same  nature 
as  yourselves."  But  for  all  they  said  they  could 
scarcely  prevent  the  people  from  sacrificing  to  them. 

In  this  very  town  where  they  had  been  treated  as 
gods,  a  party  of  Jews  from  the  neighbouring  towns 
turned  the  mob  against  Paul;  and  they  stoned  him, 
and  then  dragged  him  out  of  the  city,  supposing  he 
was  dead.  As  he  lay  in  the  dust,  bruised  and  bleed- 
ing, those  people  whom  he  had  won  to  believe  in 
Christ,  came  and  stood  round  him.  To  their  sur- 
prise and  joy  he  got  up,  and  was  able  to  walk  back 


THE    FIRST    MISSIONARY     EXPEDITION  375 

to  the  city.  Paul  and  Barnabas  travelled  on  to 
another  town,  and  then  came  back  over  the  same 
ground. 

In  his  missionary  journeys  Paul  went  through 
many  dangers,  among  mountains  and  torrents,  from 
robbers  and  enemies,  in  hunger  and  cold,  on  the  sea 
and  in  the  desert.  He  was  shipwrecked  three  or 
four  times.  He  passed  a  day  and  night  in  the  sea. 
Once  he  was  scourged.  It  was  a  life  of  toil  and 
hardship.  But  Paul  was  a  hero  and  a  martyr  for 
Christ's  sake. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE   QUARREL   WITH  PETER 

When  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  come  back  to 
Antioch  they  met  the  Church,  and  told  them  of 
their  adventures  and  the  way  God  had  won  disciples 
for  Jesus  Christ  by  means  of  their  preaching,  espe- 
cially among  the  Gentiles. 

But  some  of  the  strict  Jewish  Christians  at  Jerusa- 
lem did  not  think  it  right  that  Gentiles  should  be 
allowed  to  become  Christians  and  join  the  churches 
without  becoming  like  Jews  and  keeping  the  Jewish 
law.  Some  of  these  people  came  down  to  Antioch 
and  told  the  Greek  and  Syrian  Christians  there  that 
if  they  did  not  obey  the  law  of  the  Jews  they  could 
not  be  saved.  Paul  did  not  believe  anything  of  the 
kind,  and  he  thought  this  interference  unreasonable 
and  unkind.  So  there  was  a  great  deal  of  question- 
ing and  arguing  between  them. 

The  Church  at  Antioch  sent  Paul  and  Barnabas 
and  some  other  of  their  members  to  Jerusalem  to 
ask  the  Church  there  for  its  advice  on  this  question; 
a  meeting  of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  was  held,  and 
the  matter  was  talked  over.  Peter  stood  up  and 
advised  his  brethren  not  to  put  a  heavy  burden  on 
the  converts  from  heathenism.  But  the  Church 
kept  silent ;    they  hardly  dared  to  accept   such  an 

376 


THE  QUARREL  WITH  PETER  377 

opinion,  for  they  had  all  been  taught  from  their 
childhood  that  people  must  keep  the  old  law  of 
Moses  if  they  would  be  saved.  Then  Barnabas  and 
Paul  got  up  and  told  them  what  wonderful  things 
God  had  been  doing  among  the  heathen  by  means  of 
their  missionary  work.  As  soon  as  they  had  finished 
their  story  James,  the  brother  of  Jesus,  who  was  at 
the  head  of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem,  stood  up  and 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  they  should  not  trouble 
these  heathen  converts  to  keep  the  law  of  the  Jews. 
So  a  letter  was  sent  back  to  the  Church  at  Antioch 
with  this  answer. 

Paul  had  his  own  business  in  Jerusalem.  He 
knew  that  Jesus  had  called  him  to  be  an  Apostle ; 
but  those  Jewish  Christians  who  were  jealous  of  his 
offering  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles  would  not  allow 
that  he  was  an  Apostle.  And  now  when  he  was  led 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  by  a  revelation  as  he  says,  to 
bring  this  private  matter  of  his  own  before  the 
Apostles,  he  showed  how  truly  Christ  had  owned  him 
by  blessing  his  work.  The  missionary  story  quite 
persuaded  the  chief  leaders  of  the  Church  at  Jerusa- 
lem, James  and  Peter  and  John ;  and  these  men 
shook  hands  with  Paul  as  a  fellow-Apostle,  agreeing 
that  Paul  and  Barnabas  should  go  to  the  heathen, 
while  the  older  Apostles  kept  themselves  to  the  Jews. 

After  this  Peter  went  down  to  Antioch,  and  there 
he  sat  at  table  with  Gentile  Christians  as  a  brother 
among  them,  for  he  was  naturally  generous  and 
warm-hearted.      But  when  some  of   James'  friends 


378  THE   STORY    OF   THE   APOSTLE   PAUL 

from  Jerusalem,  who  thought  it  wrong  to  eat  with 
Gentiles,  came  down  to  Antioch,  he  was  ashamed  of 
what  he  had  been  doing,  and  he  left  off  mixing  with 
the  Gentiles  in  the  same  brotherly  way.  Paul 
thought  that  cowardly  and  deceitful,  and  he  blamed 
him  for  it  hotly  to  his  face.  It  looked  like  the  same 
weakness  Peter  had  shown  when  he  had  denied  His 
Master  in  the  high-priest's  palace.  But  perhaps  he 
hardty  knew  what  he  ought  to  do  in  the  matter,  and 
was  too  much  carried  away  with  his  feelings,  first 
one  way  and  then  the  other,  and  perhaps  Paul  was 
not  quite  kind  in  judging  him  so  hardly. 


CHAPTER  IV 


Some  time  after  these  things  Paul  took  another 
companion,  Silas,  and  visited  the  churches  he  had 
founded  in  Asia  Minor.  When  they  had  passed 
through  the  region  of  Phrygia  and  Galatia,  where 
these  churches  were,  a  strange,  mysterious  warning 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  their  hearts  checked  them 
again  and  again,  as  they  were  going  first  this  way 
and  then  that ;  and  they  were  shut  up  to  going  to 
the  north-west,  to  a  place  called  Troas,  on  the  sea- 
coast,  from  which  you  can  see  Mount  Athos  in 
Macedonia.  In  the  night  Paul  had  a  vision.  He 
thought  he  saw  a  man  from  Macedonia  standing 
before  him,  and  pleading  with  him,  saying,  "  Come 
over  into  Macedonia,  and  help  us."  He  took  this  as 
a  message  from  God,  and  started  off  at  once  with 
his  companions,  sailing  straight  across  to  the  nearest 
port.  Paul  was  now  in  Europe  for  the  first  time  in 
his  life.  He  felt  it  was  the  will  of  God  that  he 
should  make  the  good  news  of  Jesus  Christ  known 
to  the  people  of  Europe,  and  after  this  a  great  part 
of  his  work  lay  in  our  continent. 

The  first  town  at  which  he  stayed  was  Philippi. 
On  the  Sabbath  day  the  missionaries  went  out  by 
the  water-gate  along  the  bank  of  a  river,  till  they 

379 


380  THE   STORY   OF   THE  APOSTLE  PAUL 

came  to  a  place  where  some  women  used  to  meet 
for  prayer  ;  and  there  they  sat  down  and  gave  their 
message.  Then  God  opened  the  heart  of  one  of 
these  women,  Lydia,  a  seller  of  purple  ;  and  she  was 
baptized  with  her  household.  Lydia  was  the  first 
of  Paul's  converts  in  Europe. 

One  day,  when  Paul  was  walking  to  the  place  of 
prayer  by  the  river-bank,  he  met  a  poor  slave  girl, 
who  was  supposed  by  the  people  to  be  haunted  by 
a  Python,  that  is,  a  spirit  that  gave  her  power  to 
foretell  the  future.  Paul  told  the  spirit,  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  come  out  of  her.  Then 
the  girl  could  not  speak  any  more  in  the  way  that 
made  the  people  think  she  was  inspired.  Her  mas- 
ters saw  that  they  could  no  longer  hope  to  make 
a  profit  for  themselves  from  her  prophesying;  and 
they  dragged  Paul  and  Silas  into  the  market-place 
before  the  magistrates,  charging  them  with  teaching 
customs  that  were  unlawful  for  Romans. 

The  magistrates  ordered  them  to  be  beaten  with 
rods.  This  was  done  with  many  strokes  ;  and  then 
the  magistrates  ordered  them  to  prison,  commanding 
the  jailer  to  keep  them  safely.  So  the  jailer  put 
them  into  the  inner  dungeon,  and  made  their  feet 
fast  in  the  stocks.  About  midnight  Paul  and  Silas 
were  praying  and  singing  hymns,  when  there  was 
an  earthquake  which  shook  the  walls,  so  that  the 
doors  flew  open.  The  jailer  had  been  asleep,  and 
when  the  earthquake  woke  him  up  and  he  saw  the 
doors   open,   he   thought   the   prisoners   must  have 


"come  over  and  help  us"  381 

escaped.  If  he  had  allowed  them  to  get  out,  he 
would  have  been  punished  with  death.  He  was  in 
despair,  and  he  drew  his  sword  to  kill  himself.  I  Jut 
Paul  shouted  to  him,  "Do  yourself  no  harm;  for 
we  are  all  here."  Then  the  man  called  for  lights, 
and  rushed  in^rembling  with  fear,  and  fell  down  at 
the  feet  of  Paul  and  Silas,  crying,  "  What  must  I  do 
to  be  saved  ?  "  He  was  terrified  at  the  earthquake, 
and  fearful  as  to  what  his  masters  would  do  to 
him.  But  Paul  wanted  to  lead  him  to  a  better 
salvation  than  deliverance  from  these  dangers.  For 
this  reason  Paul  said,  "Trust  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  you  will  be  saved."  Then  he  told  him 
about  Christ,  and  the  man  believed  and  was  baptized 
with  his  household.  The  next  day  Paul  and  Silas 
were  set  free. 


CHAPTER   V 

PAUL  AT   ATHENS 

Paul  and  his  companions  went  on  with  their 
travels  through  Macedonia.  At  Thessalonica  they 
won  a  number  of  converts  among  the  weavers  and 
seafaring  people.  But  the  Jews  stirred  up  a  dan- 
gerous riot,  and  Paul  had  to  be  hurried  away,  leav- 
ing his  work  unfinished.  After  going  some  distance 
he  sent  back  his  companions  to  see  how  the  Chris- 
tians at  Thessalonica  were  holding  on  in  the  midst 
of  the  dangers  that  surrounded  them. 

In  this  way  Paul  came  to  be  travelling  alone  for 
a  time.  He  went  down  through  Greece,  and  came 
to  the  famous  city  of  Athens.  Here,  while  he  was 
waiting  for  his  friends  to  join  him,  his  spirit  was 
stirred  and  pained  to  see  how  the  city  was  given  up 
to  idolatry.  There  were  statues  of  Hermes  at  every 
street  corner,  idols  in  private  houses,  magnificent 
temples  for  various  gods,  and  a  splendid  gold  and 
ivory  statue  of  Athene,  the  goddess  who  was  sup- 
posed to  take  charge  of  Athens,  high  above  all  on 
the  rock  of  the  citadel. 

Paul  went  to  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews,  and 
explained  his  message  to  them,  and  he  went  to  the 
market-place  every  day,  and  talked  to  the  people 
there  —  the  very  place  where  Socrates  used  to  talk 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS  383 

to  the  Athenians  in  the  old  days  long  before.  The 
people  of  Athens  at  this  time  were  famous  for  their 
curiosity.  One  of  their  favourite  amusements  was 
to  listen  to  the  travelling  lecturers,  who  picked  up 
a  living  by  going  about  from  town  to  town  with 
novel  teaching.  The  only  thing  they  wanted  was 
that  they  should  not  be  treated  to  stale  teaching. 
Old  tales  they  were  tired  of.  Give  us  something 
new,  they  always  said.  But  when  these  smart 
Athenians  saw  a  little  Jew  dressed  as  a  working- 
man  come  among  them  with  an  offer  to  teach  them 
they  began  to  laugh.  They  had  not  a  bit  of  respect 
for  him.  "  What  can  this  sham  wise  man  have  to 
tell  us  ?  "  they  said.  But  some  who  listened  to  him, 
and  heard  him  preaching  about  Jesus  and  the  resur- 
rection, said,  "  He  seems  to  be  talking  about  strange 
gods." 

Now  there  was  a  very  ancient  court  of  law,  which 
met  in  the  old  da}'S  on  the  rock  called  the  hill  of 
Ares  (the  god  of  war)  to  try  people  who  were  said 
to  be  disrespectful  to  the  gods.  It  was  this  court 
that  had  condemned  Socrates  to  death.  In  the  days 
of  Paul  it  had  lost  its  old  power,  and  plenty  of 
people  were  disrespectful  to  the  gods  of  Athens  at 
this  time  without  anybody  troubling  himself.  Still 
such  foolish  things  were  taught  by  some  of  the 
lecturers  that  the  council  had  the  right  given  it  to 
forbid  lectures  they  thought  might  be  mischievous 
to  young  people. 

Paul  was  taken  before   this  court.     He  made  a 


384 


THE   STORY  OF   THE   APOSTLE  PAUL 


magnificent  speech.  He  told  his  hearers  that  they 
seemed  to  be  very  religious.  He  had  even  seen  an 
altar  to  an  unknown  God.  He  had  come  to  tell 
them   about   this   unknown   God  —  the    great   God 


Altar  from  Athens,  in  British  Museum 

who  made  the  world,  and  in  whom  we  live,  and 
move,  and  have  our  being.  Paul  quoted  one  of 
their  own  poets,  who  had  said,  "  We  are  also  his 
offspring." 


PAUL   AT  ATHENS  385 

And  then,  standing  as  he  was  in  Athens  among 

the   statues   of    the   Greek   gods,  he   showed    how 

foolish  it  was  to  think  God  could  be  like  gold,  or 

silver,  or  stone,  carved  by  men  as  a  work  of  art. 

God,  he  said,  was  going  to  judge  the  world  for  its 

folly  and  wickedness  by  a  Man  whom  he  had  raised 

from   the   dead.      When   Paul   spoke    of    a    rising 

from  the  dead  the  Athenians  burst  out  laughing. 

That   was    too    much   for   them ;    they    said    they 

would  hear  the  rest  another  time.     And  yet  some 

believed   in   him,  and   among  these  was   even   one 

of  the  council,  a  man  named  Dionysius. 

i 
2c 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  RIOT   AT   EPHESUS 

From  Athens  Paul  went  to  Corinth ;  and  there 
he  was  joined  by  his  friends  from  Thessalonica. 
They  told  him  his  converts,  the  new  Christians  at 
Thessalonica,  had  been  in  much  trouble ;  so  he 
wrote  a  comforting  letter,  and  followed  this  with 
another.  These  were  the  first  epistles  of  Paul, 
•perhaps  they  were  the  first  books  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament. Paul  went  to  Corinth  with  a  very  simple 
message.  All  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  preach 
about  was  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified.  Yet 
he  won  a  great  many  believers.  These  were  mostly 
among  the  poor  and  uneducated  people.  People 
who  thought  themselves  clever  were  too  proud  to 
take  in  his  message. 

Paul  was  a  year  and  a  half  at  Corinth.  Then 
the  Jews  had  him  taken  up  and  brought  before 
the  proconsul  Gallio,  for  teaching  what  was  con- 
trary to  the  law.  But  Gallio  was  a  cool  and  just 
man,  and  when  it  was  only  the  law  of  the  Jews 
that  Paul  was  supposed  to  have  broken,  he  thought 
it  was  all  a  quarrel  about  words,  and  he  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

Paul  stayed  at  Corinth  a  few  days  longer,  and 
then    sailed    for    Syria,    going    back    to    Antioch. 

386 


Diana  of  the  Ephesians 
387 


H 


THE   RIOT   AT   BPHESUS 

Then  he  set  out  again,  and  travelled  till  he  reached 
Kpliesus,  where  he  taught  in  the  lecture-room  of 
a  man  named  Tyrannus,  and  kept  himself  by  work- 
ing at  the  trade  of  a  tent-maker.  His  teaching 
had  such  a  great  effect  that  he  won  many  believers. 
Here,  too,  he  worked  wonders,  healing  the  sick 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  Some  people  who 
had  been  living  as  witches  and  sorcerers  brought 
their  magical  books  and  burnt  them  in  a  public 
place.  It  was  calculated  that  these  books  alto- 
gether were  worth  a  great  deal  of  money,  as  much 
as  we  should  now  call  £1770. 

While  Paul  was  at  Ephesus,  he  received  a  letter 
from  the  church  he  had  founded  at  Corinth,  asking 
his  advice  about  several  questions  that  had  troubled 
them.  At  the  same  time,  some  people  who  had 
come  from  Corinth  told  him  of  quarrels  in  the 
church,  and  dreadful  faults  among  the  members, 
of  which  they  had  said  nothing  in  their  letter. 
Paul  wrote  to  them  on  these  sad  things  first,  and 
then  he  answered  their  questions. 

At  the  end  of  the  two  and  a  half  years,  he 
thought  he  would  take  a  journey  up  to  Macedonia, 
and  round  through  Greece,  to  collect  money  for 
the  poor  Christians  in  Jerusalem.  He  was  very 
anxious  to  bind  all  the  Christians  together  in 
brotherly  love,  and  especially  to  get  the  Jewish 
Christians  in  Jerusalem  to  feel  kindly  towards  the 
Gentile  Christians  among  the  heathen. 

About  this  time  .a  silversmith  named  Demetrius, 


390  THE    STORY   OF   THE  APOSTLE   PAUL 

who  used  to  make  silver  images  of  the  goddess 
Artemis,  gathered  the  workmen  of  his  craft  to- 
gether, and  showed  them  how  the  preaching  of 
Paul  was  leading  people  away  from  the  worship 
of  the  goddess.  This  would  spoil  their  trade  and 
ruin  them.  There  was  a  great  and  splendid  temple 
of  Artemis  at  Ephesus.  It  was  the  pride  of  the 
city,  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  So  Deme- 
trius stirred  up  his  fellow-workmen  of  the  silver- 
smith trade  to  go  shouting  through  the  city,  "  Great 
is  Artemis  of  the  Ephesians."  In  this  way  they 
raised  a  serious  riot,  though  most  of  the  people  had 
not  the  least  idea  of  what  it  was  all  about.  Still 
they  seized  some  of  Paul's  companions,  and  dragged 
them  into  the  theatre.  Paul  wanted  to  go  in  after 
them,  but  his  friends  held  him  back.  For  two  hours 
the  mob  did  nothing  but  shout,  "  Great  is  Artemis 
of  the  Ephesians."  At  length  the  town-clerk  quieted 
them  by  threatening  them  with  punishment  from  the 
Roman  government,  which  would  not  stand  a  riot  on 
any  account.  After  this  scene  was  over,  Paul  took 
leave  of  his  friends  and  set  off  on  his  journey. 


CHAPTER   VII 

PAUL'S   LAST   VISIT  TO   JERUSALEM 

Paul  made  the  first  part  of  his  journey  as  he  had 
planned  it.  He  went  up  from  Ephesus  and  crossed 
over  to  Macedonia.  There  he  wrote  a  second  and 
more  agreeable  letter  to  his  friends  at  Corinth,  and 
he  followed  it  himself  a  little  later.  About  this 
time,  or  a  little  earlier,  he  heard  bad  news  of  the 
churches  in  Galatia.  Most  likely  these  were  the 
churches  he  had  founded  when  he  went  with  Barna- 
bas on  his  first  missionary  journey.  Some  of  the 
stiff  Jewish  Christians  from  Jerusalem  had  gone 
among  the  simple  impetuous  people  and  turned 
them  against  Paul.  That  was  not  the  worst.  They 
had  persuaded  the  Galatians  to  keep  the  Jewish  law. 
So  they  had  made  them  think  less  of  Christ  and  His 
cross.  All  this  greatly  grieved  Paul.  His  heart 
was  full  of  love  for  his  people.  As  he  travelled 
about  he  remembered  them  every  day  in  his  prayers. 
It  was  most  disappointing  for  him  to  learn  that 
any  of  them  were  growing  cold  and  turning  aside. 
So  he  wrote  a  very  sharp  letter  to  the  Galatians. 
Then  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Christians  at  Rome, 
whom  he  had  never  seen,  because  he  was  anxious 
that  they  should  know  the  truth  about  forgiveness 
and  the  new  life  —  that  it  came  simply  through  faith 

391 


392  THE   STORY  OF   THE  APOSTLE  PAUL 

in  Jesus  Christ,  quite  apart  from  the  law  of  the  Jews, 
or  anything  that  we  can  do  for  ourselves. 

Paul  spent  three  months  in  Greece.  He  had 
collected  the  money  for  the  poor  Christians  of 
Jerusalem,  and  he  was  ready  to  set  sail  for  Syria, 
when  he  heard"  the  Jews  had  a  plot  to  kill  him. 
For  this  reason  he  changed  his  course  and  went 
back  again  round  by  Macedonia,  and  then  down  to 
Miletus,  near  Ephesus,  where  the  principal  people 
from  the  church  at  Ephesus  came  out  to  bid  him 
farewell.  They  were  very  sad ;  and  they  wept, 
and  fell  on  his  neck  and  kissed  him,  for  he  had 
told  them  he  would  never  see  them  again.  If  he 
went  to  Jerusalem  it  seemed  almost  certain  that 
the  Jews  would  kill  him.  Why  then  was  he  so 
determined  to  go?  Because  he  was  anxious  above 
all  things  to  bring  the  two  kinds  of  Christians 
together ;  and  he  thought  if  he  carried  up  the  pres- 
ent from  the  churches  among  the  heathen,  and 
gave  it  himself  to  the  Jerusalem  Christians,  he 
might  be  able  to  make  them  look  upon  these  far- 
off  Christians  as  brothers  and  sisters,  even  though 
they  were  not  Jews. 

So  he  sailed  on,  and  came  to  Caasarea.  There  the 
Christians  tried  to  keep  him  from  going  to  such  a 
dangerous  place  as  Jerusalem.  One  of  them,  a 
prophet  named  Agabus,  bound  his  feet  and  hands 
with  Paul's  girdle,  saying  that  the  Holy  Spirit  had 
shown  him  that  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem  would  bind 
the   man  who   owned   that   girdle.     His   travelling 


PAUL'S    LAST    VISIT  TO  JERUSALEM  o!».°, 

friends  were  alarmed  for  him,  and  even  they  joined 
in  begging  him  not  to  go  on.  But  Paul  answered 
them,  "What  are  you  doing,  weeping  and  breaking 
my  heart  ?  for  I  am  ready  not  only  to  be  bound, 
but  also  to  die  at  Jerusalem  for  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus."  > 

When  they  found  he  would  not  be  persuaded, 
they  left  off  urging  him,  and  said,  "  The  will  of 
the  Lord  be  done." 

So  Paul  went  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  Christians 
there  received  him  very  kindly.  But  some  Jews 
from  Ephesus  had  followed  him  as  spies,  and  they 
said  to  the  Jerusalem  Jews  that  Paul  had  taken  a 
man  of  their  own  town,  who  was  a  Gentile,  into 
the  Temple  and  so  defiled  it.  This  raised  a  riot. 
The  people  laid  hold  of  Paul,  and  dragged  him  out 
of  the  Temple.  They  would  have  killed  him,  but 
for  the  Roman  soldiers  who  rescued  him.  When 
they  were  about  to  carry  him  off  to  the  castle,  he 
begged  leave  to  speak  to  the  people.  The  officer 
consented,  and  standing  on  the  steps  of  the  castle 
under  the  protection  of  the  guard  of  Roman 
soldiers,  Paul  told  the  Jews  the  wonderful  story  of 
his  conversion.  But  when  he  came  to  the  part 
where  he  had  the  command  to  preach  to  the 
Gentiles,  the  Jews  would  not  hear  him  any  longer. 
This  simply  drove  them  wild.  They  behaved  like 
madmen.  They  tore  off  their  coats  and  flung  dust 
in  the  air.  The  officer  had  Paul  taken  into  the 
castle  and  tied  up  ready  for  being  scourged  to  get 


394  THE   STORY   OF   THE  APOSTLE  PAUL 

the  truth  out  of  him.  But  Paul  asked  if  they  were 
doing  what  was  lawful  to  scourge  a  man  who  was 
a  Roman.  This  surprised  the  captain.  But  Paul 
said  he  was  a  free-born  Roman,  because  he  was  a 
citizen  of  the  free  town  of  Tarsus.  They  could 
not  scourge  him  when  they  knew  that. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

IMPRISONMENT  AT  C^ESAREA 
/ 

The  captain  of  the  castle  allowed  Paul  to  appear 
before  the  Jewish  council.  But  this  led  to  such 
an  uproar  between  the  two  parties  in  the  council 
that  Paul  was  in  danger  of  being  torn  to  pieces 
among  them,  and  the  captain  had  to  rescue  him 
again. 

The  next  day  forty  Jews  bound  themselves  by 
an  oath  that  they  would  not  eat  or  drink  anything 
till  they  had  killed  Paul.  Paul's  sister's  son  heard 
of  it,  and  he  went  into  the  castle  and  told  Paul, 
who  called  one  of  the  centurions,  and  asked  him 
to  take  the  young  man  to  the  chief  captain.  The 
chief  captain  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  led  him 
aside  to  question  him  privately.  Then  he  called 
two  of  the  centurions,  and  ordered  them  to  get 
ready  two  hundred  spearmen  and  seventy  horsemen 
to  take  Paul  under  guard  to  Csesarea. 

Paul  was  sent  to  the  governor  Felix  at  Cassarea  ; 
and  the  high-priest  and  some  of  the  principal  Jews 
came  down  and  accused  him  there  of  being  a  dis- 
turber of  the  peace.  Felix  was  interested  in  Paul's 
defence,  and  he  ordered  him  to  be  kept  in  a  comfort- 
able way,  and  his  friends  were  to  be  allowed  to  visit 
him.     Felix  was  married  to  a  Jewess  named  Drusilla, 

395 


396  THE  STORY   OF   THE  APOSTLE  PAUL 

and  they  would  often  send  for  Paul  to  hear  him. 
But  when  he  reasoned  about  right  living  and  God's 
judgment  on  wickedness,  Felix  was  terrified  and 
sent  him  away.  He  was  hoping  that  Paul  would 
give  him  money  to  be  set  free.  So  he  kept  Paul  in 
prison  for  two  years.  At  the  end  of  the  two  years 
Felix  was  removed  from  his  office,  and  another  gov- 
ernor, Festus,  appointed  to  it.  The  Jews  asked 
Festus  to  send  Paul  to  Jerusalem.  But  he  was 
too  shrewd  to  fall  into  their  trap ;  he  said  he  would 
examine  him  himself  at  Csesarea.  When  he  did  so 
Paul  claimed  his  right  as  a  Roman  citizen,  and 
appealed  to  Caesar.  He  could  not  get  justice  from 
the  governors  of  Syria.  He  would  go  to  Rome  and 
be  tried  by  the  Emperor.  Festus  was  obliged  to 
allow  this. 

Before  Paul  was  sent  to  Rome,  Agrippa,  the  last 
of  the  Herods,  and  Bernice,  his  wife,  came  to  Cses- 
area,  and  to  please  him,  as  he  was  a  Jew,  Festus  had 
Paul  brought  out  before  him.  So  Agrippa  came 
with  great  pomp,  and  his  queen  with  him,  and  Paul 
made  his  defence  before  them.  It  was  a  noble  de- 
fence. He  became  very  excited  in  his  eloquence, 
and  Festus  interrupted  him,  saying,  "  Paul,  you  are 
mad  ;  your  great  learning  is  driving  you  out  of  your 
mind." 

Paul  answered,  "I  am  not  mad,  most  excellent 
Festus  ;  I  am  speaking  true  and  sober  words." 

Then  he  turned  to  Agrippa,  saying,  "  The  king 
knows  of  these  things,  before  whom  I  speak  freely, 


IMPRISONMENT  AT  C/ESAREA  397 

for  this  was  not  done  in  a  corner.  King  Agrippa, 
do  you  believe  in  the  prophets?  I  know  you  be- 
lieve." 

This  was  rather  too  personal  for  the  king,  and  he 
answered  scornfully,  "  So  with  a  little  persuading 
you  would  have  me  be  a  Christian  ?  "  Paul  answered, 
"  I  would  to  God  that  whether  with  little  or  with 
much,  not  you  only,  but  all  that  hear  me  to-day, 
might  become  such  as  I  am  —  except  these  bonds." 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   SHIPWRECK 

Paul  was  taken  with  some  other  prisoners  on 
board  a  coasting  vessel,  and  the  ship  put  out  to  sea. 
The  prisoners  were  in  charge  of  a  centurion  named 
Julius,  who  was  very  friendly  to  Paul.  The  first 
place  they  touched  was  Tyre,  and  here  Paul  was 
allowed  to  go  ashore  and  visit  his  friends.  Putting 
to  sea  again,  they  sailed  under  the  lee  of  Cyprus, 
because  the  winds  were  contrary.  Then  they  ran 
across  to  Myra,  a  town  of  Lycia,  in  the  south  of  Asia 
Minor.  As  the  ship  was  now  going  up  the  coast  to 
the  north,  they  left  it  here,  and  took  one  that  had 
come  into  port  from  Alexandria,  and  was  bound  for 
Italy. 

They  sailed  slowly  till  they  reached  Cret$.  Com- 
ing under  the  lee  of  the  island,  they  coasted  along  it 
with  difficulty  till  they  came  to  a  place  called  "  Fair 
Havens."  They  had  been  so  delayed  that  it  was 
now  nearly  the  end  of  September,  and  they  were 
likely  to  have  nasty  weather  from  the  equinoctial 
gales.  But  as  this  place  was  not  a  convenient  one 
to  winter  in,  they  weighed  anchor  under  a  soft  south 
wind,  and  sailed  along  Crete  close  in  shore,  making 
for  a  better  harbour. 

Before  long  a  fierce  wind  beat  down  on  them. 
The  ship  was  caught  in  it,  and  there  was  nothing  to 

398 


THE   SHIPWRECK  401 

do  but  run  before  the  gale.  While  they  were  pass- 
ing under  the  shelter  of  a  small  island  they  were 
able  to  draw  up  the  boat  they  had  in  tow,  for  it  was 
in  danger  of  being  swept  away ;  and  also  to  bind 
ropes  round  the  hull  of  the  ship  to  hold  her  together 
against  the  force  of  the  waves.  The  danger  was 
that  they  would  be  driven  on  the  quicksands  called 
"Syrtis,"  which  were  the  terror  of  all  sailors  on 
these  waters.  They  lowered  the  gear,  and  with  only 
storm  sails  set  they  laboured  heavily  in  the  sea. 

The  next  day  they  began  to  throw  the  freight 
overboard.  They  were  driven  under  dense  clouds, 
never  seeing  the  sun  by  day  nor  the  stars  by  night ; 
so,  as  the  ancients  had  no  such  thing  as  a  compass, 
they  lost  all  reckoning  and  gave  up  any  hope  of 
being  saved. 

At  times  like  this  it  becomes  clear  that  those  who 
know  and  trust  God  are  much  better  off  than  people 
who  live  without  God.  Paul" was  only  a  prisoner  ; 
but  he  was  able  to  put  heart  into  the  frightened  pas- 
sengers and  crew.  He  was  sure  that  God  would 
protect  them. 

They  had  been  drifting  in  this  dangerous  way  for 
a  fortnight,  and  were  now  being  driven  to  and  fro  in 
the  Adriatic,  when  the  sailors  learnt  by  sounding 
that  they  were  getting  into  shallow  water.  It  was 
midnight.  Fearing  that  they  might  be  dashed  on 
some  rocky  coast,  they  let  down  four  anchors,  and 
prayed  for  the  morning.  Under  the  pretence  of 
letting  down  an  anchor  from  the  foreship,  the  sailors 

2d 


402  THE   STORY   OF   THE  APOSTLE   PAUL 

lowered  a  boat  to  escape.  Paul  pointed  this  out  to 
the  centurion,  saying  it  was  impossible  for  the  sol- 
diers to  be  saved  if  these  men  deserted  the  ship. 
The  soldiers  made  short  work  of  this  business. 
They  cut  the  ropes  of  the  boat,  and  let  her  fall  into 
the  sea. 

It  was  a  dreary  night ;  but  when  the  day  began 
to  break,  Paul  encouraged  all  on  board  to  take 
some  food.  When  it  was  light  enough  they  saw  a 
bay  with  a  beach.  Casting  off  the  anchors,  they 
left  them  in  the  sea,  at  the  same  time  letting  the 
rudders  loose  and  hoisting  the  foresail  to  the  wind, 
they  made  for  land.  Coining  upon  a  place  where 
two  seas  met,  they  ran  the  ship  aground.  The 
foreship  stuck  fast ;  but  the  stern  began  to  break  up 
under  the  violence  of  the  waves.  The  soldiers 
advised  killing  the  prisoners.  But  the  centurion, 
wishing  to  save  Paul,  stayed  them,  and  commanded 
those  who  could  swim  to  throw  themselves  over- 
board first ;  the  rest  were  to  go  as  they  could  — 
some  on  planks,  and  some  on  broken  pieces  of  the 
ship.  There  were  two  hundred  and  seventy-six 
souls  on  board ;  but  they  all  got  safely  to  shore. 

They  found  they  were  on  the  island  of  Malta. 
They  must  have  been  miserably  cold  and  wet,  and 
quite  worn  out ;  but  the  natives  were  very  kind 
and  lit  a  fire  for  them. 

While  Paul  was  throwing  some  wood  he  had 
gathered  on  the  fire  a  snake  that  was  among  the 
sticks,  roused  by  the  heat,  sprang  out  and  fastened 


THE  SHEErWBEOK  ,  403 

on  his  hand.  The  natives  first  thought  lie  must 
be  a  murderer  punished  in  this  way,  although  he 
had  escaped  the  sea.  But  when  lie  shook  the 
beast  off  into  the  fire  and  took  no  harm,  they 
thought  he  must  be  a  god. 

After  threje  months  they  set  sail  in  a  ship  from 
Alexandria  called  "  The  Two  Brothers,"  that  had 
wintered  in  the  island.  They  touched  Syracuse 
and  Rhegium,  and  landed  at  Puteoli.  From  there 
they  went  on  By  land.  Paul  was  met  by  some  of 
the  Christians  from  Rome  at  a  place  called  "  The 
Market  of  Appius,"  and  by  some  more  at  "The 
Three  Taverns."  The  sight  of  them  cheered  him, 
and  he  thanked  God  and  took  courage.  At  Rome 
he  was  allowed  to  remain  for  two  years  in  his  own 
hired  house. 

It  is  not  easy  to  say  what  is  exactly  the  end  of 
the  Bible  story,  because  it  is  written  in  several 
books  of  different  dates.  While  he  was  at  Rome, 
Paul  wrote  letters  to  the  churches  at  Philippi  and 
Colosse,  and  the  neighbourhood  of  Ephesus.  He 
wrote,  too,  a  beautiful  letter  to  his  friend  Philemon, 
asking  him  to  receive  back  a  runaway  slave,  named 
Onesimus.  The  slave  had  stolen  some  of  his 
master's  property ;  but  Paul  had  met  him,  and  he 
was  now  a  changed  man.  It  seems  that  when  Paul 
was  tried  before  the  Emperor  Nero  he  was  found 
to  be  innocent,  and  set  free.  Then  he  travelled 
again,   aud   wrote   letters   to  his   helpers,  Timothy 


404  THE   STORY   OF   THE   APOSTLE   PAUL 

and  Titus.  But  he  was  at  Rome  a  second  time 
when  Nero  began  to  persecute  the  Christians. 
Then  most  likely  Paul  was  beheaded;  Peter,  too, 
seems  to  have  been  killed  at  Rome  at  the  same 
time.  A  few  years  later,  James,  the  head  of  the 
Church  at  Jerusalem,  was  flung  down  from  a  high 
part  of  the  Temple,  and  clubbed  or  stoned  to  death. 
These  three  were  all  martyrs ;  so  were  many  more 
of  the  early  Christians,  though  John  lived  on  to 
old  age.  As  one  by  one  the  first  disciples  of  Jesus 
Christ  passed  away,  others  took  their  places,  and 
the  numbers  grew;  and  from  this  beginning,  the 
Christian  life  has  gone  on  right  down  to  our  own 
day.  And  now  we  have  the  story  of  Jesus  and 
His  Apostles,  that  we  may  learn  to  follow  in  His 
footsteps,  and  be  guided  and  helped  by  their 
teaching. 


New  Testament  Handbooks 

Edited  by  SHAILER   MATHEWS 

Professor  of  New  Testament  History  and  Inter pr eta 
Hon,  University  of  Chicago 


The  History  of  the  Textual  Criticism  of  the  New 
Testament 

Marvin  R.  Vincent,  Professor  of  New  Testament 
Exegesis,  Union  Theological  Seminary.    Now  ready. 

Professor  Vincent's  contributions  to  the  study  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament rank  him  among  the  first  American  exegetes.  His  most 
recent  publication  is  "  A  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on 
the  Epistles  to  the  Philippians  and  to  Philemon  "  (International 
Critical  Commentary) ,  which  was  preceded  by  a  "  Student's  New 
Testament  Handbook,"  "  Word  Studies  in  the  New  Testament," 
and  others. 

The  History  of  New  Testament  Times  in  Pales- 
tine 

Shailer   Mathews,  Professor   of  New  Testament 
History  and  Interpretation,  University  of  Chicago. 

Now  ready. 

The  History  of  the  Higher  Criticism  of  the  New 
Testament 

Henry  S.  Nash,  Professor  of  New  Testament  Inter- 
pretation,  Cambridge  Divinity  School. 

Of  Professor  Nash's  "  Genesis  of  the  Social  Conscience,"  The 
Outlook  said:  "  The  results  of  Professor  Nash's  ripe  thought  are 
presented  in  a  luminous,  compact,  and  often  epigrammatic  style. 
The  treatment  is  at  once  masterful  and  helpful,  and  the  book  ought 
to  be  a  quickening  influence  of  the  highest  kind;  it  surely  will 
establish  the  fame  of  its  author  as  a  profound  thinker,  one  from 
whom  we  have  a  right  to  expect  future  inspiration  of  a  kindred 
sort." 

Introduction  to  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament 
B.  Wisner  Bacon,  Professor  of  New  Testament 
Interpretation,  Yale  University. 

Professor  Bacon's  works  in  the  field  of  Old  Testament  criticism 
include  "  The  Triple  Tradition  of  Exodus,"  and  "  The  Genesis  of 
Genesis,"  a  study  of  the  documentary  sources  of  the  books  of 
Moses.  In  the  field  of  New  Testament  study  he  has  published  a 
number  of  brilliant  papers,  the  most  recent  of  which  is  "  The  Auto- 
biography of  Jesus,    in  the  American  Journal  of  Theology. 


The  Life  of  Paul 

Rush  Rhees,  President  of  the  University  of  Roches- 
ter 

iroicssor  Rhees  is  well  known  from  his  series  of  "  Inductive  Les- 
sons" contributed  to  the  Sunday  School  Times,  His  "  Outline  of 
the  Life  of  Paul,"  privately  printed,  has  had  a  flattering  reception 
irom  New  Testament  scholars. 

The  History  of  the  Apostolic  Age 

C.  W.  Votaw,  Instructor  in  New  Testament  Litera- 
ture, University  of  Chicago. 

Of  Dr.  Votaw's  <s  Inductive  Study  of  the  Founding  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,"  Modern  Church,  Edinburgh,  says:  "No  fuller 
analysis  of  the  later  books  of  the  New  Testament  could  be  desired, 
and  no  better  programme  could  be  offered  for  their  study,  than  that 
afforded  in  the  scheme  of  fifty  lessons  on  the  Founding  of  the 
Christian  Church,  by  Clyde  W.  Votaw.  It  is  well  adapted  alike 
for  practical  and  more  scholarly  students  of  the  Bible." 

The  Teaching  of  Jesus 

George  B.  Stevens,  Professor  of  Systematic  Theol- 
ogy, Yale  University. 

Professor  Stevens'  volumes  upon  "  The  Johannine  Theology," 
"  The  Pauline  Theology,"  as  well  as  his  recent  volume  on  the 
Theology  of  the  New  Testament,  have  made  him  perhaps  the  most 
prominent  American  writer  upon  the  biblical  theology  of  the  New 
Testament.  His  new  volume  will  present  an  entirely  fresh  treat- 
ment of  its  important  theme. 

The  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament 

E.  P.  Gould,  formerly  Professor  of  New  Testament 
Interpretation,  Protestant  Episcopal  Divinity  School, 
Philadelphia.  In  preparation. 

The  Teaching  of  Jesus  and  Modern  Social  Prob- 
lems 

Francis  G.  Peabody,  Professor  of  Christian  Ethics, 
Harvard  University. 

The  History  of  Christian  Literature  until  Eusebius 

J.  W.  Platner,  Professor  of  Early  Church  History, 
Harvard  University. 

The  Historical  Geography  of  the  New  Testament 

J.  R.  S.  Sterrett,  Professor  of  Greek,  Amher? 
College. 


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